Srinagar
After reaching out to arch rival NC patron Farooq Abdullah about Article 35-A, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is expected to reach Delhi on Thursday to seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support in defending a constitutional provision that bars outsiders from owning property in the state, NDTV reported.
The restriction on outsiders from buying property in Jammu and Kashmir is considered the cornerstone of the state’s special status. It is a clause that the BJP – which is in power in alliance with Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party, or PDP – has long demanded should be removed.
At a hearing last month, the NDA government’s top law officer KK Venugopal told the Supreme Court that the centre favoured a larger debate on this contentious article. It was after this hearing that Chief Minister Mufti warned Delhi that no one would be left to shoulder the tricolour in the state if the special status was tampered with.
