By Tehelka Web Desk
The ruling National Conference (NC) on Wednesday intensified preparations for its proposed protest in New Delhi demanding the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, deciding to invite all constituents of the INDIA bloc as well as other political parties outside the alliance that are not part of the BJP-led NDA.
The decision was taken at a meeting of senior NC leaders chaired by party president Farooq Abdullah at his Gupkar residence in Srinagar.
A party spokesperson said the meeting reviewed arrangements for the proposed demonstration at Jantar Mantar and decided to broaden support for the campaign.
Besides INDIA bloc partners, the NC will also invite political parties from Jammu and Kashmir to participate in the protest.
As part of the outreach, Abdullah will personally write to the heads of political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, urging them to join the demonstration.
The party has scheduled the protest for the first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session.
The NC said the protest is intended to press the Centre to fulfil its repeated commitment to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and constitutional guarantees.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had announced the protest last month, saying it would go ahead despite his recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has maintained that the Centre has assured Parliament, the Supreme Court and the people on multiple occasions that statehood would be restored, but has not specified any timeline.
The restoration of statehood has remained a key political demand of the NC government since it assumed office last year. In its first Cabinet meeting in October 2025, the government passed a resolution seeking the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood “in its original form”.
Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its statehood after the Centre revoked Article 370 and reorganised the erstwhile state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in August 2019.
Although Assembly elections were subsequently conducted, the Centre has continued to state that statehood would be restored at an “appropriate time” without announcing a specific timeline.
The proposed protest will be the NC’s first major political mobilisation outside Jammu and Kashmir since returning to power and is aimed at building broader political support for the demand for statehood.
