Ahead of its Delhi protest at Jantar Mantar scheduled for July 20—first day of monsoon session, ruling National Conference (NC) is gearing up for support on demand for statehood, with rallies scheduled in twin cities of Jammu and Srinagar.
Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary said NC will be hold big programs in Srinagar and Jammu on July 11 and 12. “We have already started preparations for the Delhi protest. It’s going to be a protest by legislators, but senior leaders can also join. The party is already working on the program as a series of meetings are being held by the senior leadership,” said Baramulla legislator Javed Hassan Baig.
The party spokesperson Tanveer Sadiq on Tuesday expressed confidence that its July 11 convention at Naseem Bagh would be a success and appealed to all political parties to join its July 20 Jantar Mantar protest in New Delhi to press for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood. The July 11 programme coincides with the 26th death anniversary of Begum Akbar Jehan, popularly known as Madre Meharban. The party will pay tribute at her graveyard at Naseem Bagh, Hazratbal, before holding a workers’ convention, which is seen as a major mobilisation ahead of the Delhi protest.
Party president Farooq Abdullah has been holding a series of meetings with legislators and senior leaders on a daily basis to make the protest successful. He has also written letters to INDIA bloc partners seeking their support for the statehood protest at Jantar Mantar.
“We have been waiting for the promise of statehood for the past 18 months. Now we have decided to hold protests for our rights. Our budget and the budget of Ladakh are almost the same. We were a state and our requirements are also as big as a state. But even after waiting for 18 months, the statehood promised by the Government of India has not been fulfilled,” said deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary in Jammu.
Since coming to power in 2024, this will be the first time that NC legislators will hold a protest in New Delhi for statehood. The Congress J&K unit had already held a protest last year for statehood restoration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, but the NC did not join that protest.
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