oppn parties J&K: Centre Sets The Ball Rolling

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  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
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  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
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  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
J&K: Centre Sets The Ball Rolling

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-06-19 16:50:22

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Finally, the Centre has moved on taking steps to start the political process in Jammu & Kashmir. All 14 top leaders of various political parties in the UT, including Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti of PDP, were today invited by Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla for an all-party meeting with Prime Minister Modi at his residence in Delhi on June 24. The other leaders invited were Muzaffar Hussain Beg and Sajjad Lone of the People's Conference; Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami of the CPM;  Nirmal Singh, Kavinder Gupta and Ravinder Raina of the BJP;  Altaf Bukhari of the J&K Apni Party; Ghulam Nabi Azad, G A Mir and Tara Chand of the Congress and Bhim Singh of the Panthers Party. All leaders were requested to come with a current Covid negative report.

For the last couple of days, there was a very strong buzz in political circles in the capital about such a development. This gained further currency after Home minister Amit Shah reviewed the situation in the UT on Friday. It is expected that Shah and other Central ministers will also attend the meeting that is expected to discuss the completion of the delimitation exercise and the holding of the assembly elections under the changed equation in the state. This will be the first meeting between the Centre and the leaders from the UT after Article 370 was abrogated on 5th August 2019 and the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir was bifurcated into the UTs of J&K and Ladhakh. Recently, when additional security forces were sent to the state, the valley was abuzz with rumours of another bifurcation of the UT of J&K. The call for this meeting confirms that those rumours were spread by vested interests.

It would be interesting to see how the J&K political parties respond to this invite. At the time of writing this article, there is no word from them except for the NC, the PDP, the Congress and the CPM saying that will discuss the same within their parties before taking a decision. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said that the government had not specified a clear agenda while an NC leader said that the meeting shows that there is a realization in Delhi and the meeting is a good thing. But it needs to be remembered that most parties, especially NC and PDP, had said in August 2019 that they do not accept the abrogation and demanded restoration of statehood with special status as before. The mainstream parties also came together to form the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration to jointly fight for the same.

It would be sad if the J&K parties choose not to attend the meeting. The UT has been without an elected government for nearly three years now. If the Centre wants to revive the political process, the parties in the UT must come forward and participate in it. It must be recognized that what was done on 5th August 2019 cannot be undone. The political parties in J&K have to come to terms with reality and serve the people under the new scheme of things. The meeting is the first step towards that and they should attend it and put forward their views before the government.

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