New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the nation on Thursday during which he is expected to explain government's decisions on abrogating special status to Jammu and Kashmir and splitting the state into two union territories, sources have said. The last time he addressed the nation was on March 27 during the Lok Sabha elections when he announced that India had demonstrated anti-satellite missile (A-Sat) capability by shooting down a live satellite. Parliament on Tuesday approved a resolution abrogating special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. It also cleared a bill to split the state into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The proposed address comes days before the prime minister's customary address to the nation on Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government's bold move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh -- secured Parliament's approval on Tuesday with the Lok Sabha passing the new measures with an over two-third majority. Fulfilling an electoral promise of the BJP less than 90 days after the Modi 2.0 government took power, Shah had announced the decision in the Rajya Sabha, which approved both the resolution and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill. The Rajya Sabha gave its approval to the resolution on Monday.