Jammu And Kashmir: Rahul Gandhi, Other Opposition Leaders To Visit Srinagar on Saturday, Say Sources

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will vist Srinagar on Saturday to meet people of Jammu and Kashmir where restrictions are imposed after the Centre withdrew special status to the state and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, sources said on Friday.

Rahul Gandhi with Ghulam Nabi Azad. Getty Images

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Srinagar on Saturday to meet people of Jammu and Kashmir where restrictions are imposed after the Centre withdrew special status to the state and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, sources said on Friday. Along with Gandhi, leaders of various opposition parties, including Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma from the Congress, will also visit the Valley, they said. According to sources, some of the parties that will be part of the opposition all-party delegation are Congress, CPI-M, CPI, RJD, NCP, TMC and DMK. CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, DMK's Tiruchi Siva, RJD's Manoj Jha and Dinesh Trivedi from TMC will also be part of the delegation that will leave for Srinagar around noon from Delhi airport, the sources said. Senior Congress leaders were huddled in a meeting on Friday evening to discuss the issue within the party. The sources said the leaders also intend to visit some other parts of the state, if allowed to enter. So far, the government has not allowed any political leader to enter the state ever since provisions of Article 370 were abrogated by the Centre. Gandhi in a tweet on Wednesday repeated his demand to visit Jammu and Kashmir and asked Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik when he could come. Malik has then said the J-K administration was occupied with arrangements for Independence Day celebrations and would get in touch with the Wayanad MP at a "convenient time" over his visit to the state. Leaders of regional parties, including former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, have been put under house arrest. Congress MP Azad was not allowed to enter the state and was stopped twice, both at Srinagar and Jammu. Earlier, Raja was also stopped at Srinagar airport and sent back. Rahul Gandhi had recently asked Governor Satya Pal Malik when he could come to the state and meet people without any conditions.