Rahul Gandhi reaches Srinagar for two-day visit to Jammu & Kashmir

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday reached Srinagar for a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir. This is Rahul Gandhi’s first visit to Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.

Rahul had led an Opposition delegation to Kashmir in 2019, days after the special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution was removed by a presidential order and the state divided into two Union Territories, but was forced to go back from the Srinagar airport.

The former Congress president will hold series of deliberations with party leaders and workers. He will also attend the wedding reception of Jammu and Kashmir party unit president Ghulam Ahmed Mir’s son.

The sources had said the Congress leaders may also visit Mata Vaishno Devi in Jammu but it is yet to be finalised.

In August 2019, the Centre had abrogated Article 370 which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the region into two territories– Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Rahul’s visit, which coincides with the two-year anniversary of the scrapping of Article 370, comes after a recent all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where Congress pitched for restoration of J&K’s statehood.

The J&K administration had last week released a 76-page booklet listing its achievements of the last two years. It has said that 890 Central laws have been made applicable in Jammu and Kashmir, with 205 state laws repealed and 130 others modified. It has also said it has issued 41.05 lakh domicile certificates to replace former Permanent Resident Certificates that gave exclusive rights over land and jobs in Jammu and Kashmir.