A 10-member delegation of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will meet party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday in Srinagar. It is to be noted that Mufti is under detention at Hari Nagar Palace Guest House since August 4, a day before the Centre decided to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier on Sunday, a 15-member delegation of National Conference (NC) met party president Farooq Abdullah at his residence. The delegation went to meet the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, who has been placed under arrest under the Public Safety Act (PSA), a day after obtaining permission from Governor Satya Pal Malik.
The delegation was led by party's provincial president Devender Singh Rana and included some other senior leaders of the NC. News agency ANI shared a video of NC leaders Hasnain Masoodi and Akbar Lone meeting Farooq and his wife Molly at their residence in Srinagar. The delegation will later meet Farooq's son and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who is currently under detention at a guest house. NC spokesperson Madan Mantoo said that the NC members decided to meet the top leadership at an emergency meeting two days ago, soon after the administration lifted the movement of party leaders.
The Centre has, however, said that those under house arrest will be released soon. The Centre has repeatedly claimed that Abdullahs, Mehbooba Mufti and several other mainstream leaders of Jammu and Kashmir were put under house arrest in order to maintain law and order situation in the state after the abrogation of Article 370.
Meanwhile, the first-ever Block Development Council (BDC) or three-tier panchayat election in the newly-formed Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be held on October 24 and the counting of the votes will be held on the same day. The Tehsil and Zila panchayat elections will take place in 310 blocks out of total 316 blocks of the union territory.
