Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti with senior officials reviewing the status of implementation of the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP-2015) in Srinagar on Saturday. (PTI Photo)
The Congress on Saturday blamed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a four-day trip to Jammu and Kashmir, for “sabotaging and trying to overshadow” the visit of a Manmohan Singh-led five-member policy planning group of the Congress that will arrive in Jammu on Sunday for two days. The Congress had announced the visit last month with an aim to meet people in all three regions of the state. The delegation will include former Union minister P Chidambaram, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, J&K AICC in-charge Ambika Soni and Rajya Sabha member Karan Singh, besides party representatives from state regions.
J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that Singh’s visit will coincide with that of the Congress group led by former PM Manmohan Singh.
“The Congress had announced its programme much earlier… Unfortunately, the Union Home Minister deliberately selected the dates announced by the Congress group. Its only aim is to sabotage the visit and efforts of former PM Manmohan Singh.’’
Also read | Day 1 of J-K visit: With focus on ‘political solution’, Rajnath Singh meets 20 delegations
“Both the Centre and state governments had information about the policy group’s visit to Jammu, but they still planned the Union minister’s visit. It was aimed to overshadow efforts by the Congress to bring peace in Kashmir,’’ Mir said, adding that the initiative should have been taken by the state and central governments. “They (BJP and PDP) didn’t give respect to former PM Manmohan Singh as they are afraid of the Congress.’’ The delegation will visit Kashmir next week, sources said.
(With ENS Jammu)
