The Centre’s special representative to Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, on Wednesday called on former chief minister Omar Abdullah at his residence in Srinagar to discuss the prevailing situation in the state. “We discussed the prevailing situation in the state, as also steps that can be taken to make his visits to the state more meaningful,” Abdullah was quoted as saying by news agency PTI after the meeting.
Sharma also met CPM leader M Y Tarigami, who represents south Kashmir’s Kulgam constituency in the assembly. Senior leader of the ruling PDP, Sartaj Madni, who is CM Mehbooba Mufti’s maternal uncle, will meet Sharma later this afternoon. He is also expected to meet former minister and Democratic Party Nationalist leader Ghulam Hassan Mir and People’s Democratic Front chief Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen.
On the first day of his five-day visit to the state, Sharma met about 40 people from 13 delegations at Hari Niwas in Srinagar amid tight security on Monday. On day 2, Sharma met 37 delegations, comprising 199 people including activists and youth leaders.
The former Intelligence Bureau director is spending three days in the Valley and will be travelling to Jammu on Thursday where he is slated to hold talks with Governor N N Vohra, CM Mufti and other delegates.
National Conference president and Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah, however, said at a rally in north Kashmir, “Autonomy to both sides of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir is the only viable solution to the decades-old problem.”
