Article 370 abrogation’s anniversary today: Amid buzz, Omar trusts his ‘gut feeling’, Mehbooba wary

A day before the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 that granted Jammu and Kashmir’s special Constitutional status, the Union Territory’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said “nothing bad will happen” on Tuesday. His comments came amid a flurry of high-level meetings in Delhi that set the rumour mills abuzz.

“I’ve heard every possible permutation & combination about what to expect in J&K tomorrow, so let me stick my neck out and say nothing will happen tomorrow — fortunately nothing bad will happen but unfortunately nothing positive will happen either. I’m still optimistic about something positive for J&K in this monsoon session of Parliament but not tomorrow,“ Omar posted on X.

The CM said this was his “gut feeling”. “And no, I haven’t had any meetings or conversations with people in Delhi. This is just a gut feeling. Let’s see this time tomorrow,” he added.

Differing with Omar, former CM and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said she expects “something worse will happen”.

“I have my apprehensions, you know, something like what they did in 2019. They broke up, dismembered the state, they broke it into parts, you know, dispossessed us. Their main target was Muslims, especially Kashmiris. So, I feel something worse may be in the offing to disempower us further, dismember us,” she told The Indian Express when asked if she expects Jammu Kashmir to get back its statehood.

A day after both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah met President Droupadi Murmu separately, Shah on Monday met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka, and Home Secretary Govind Mohan in his office in Parliament House. The speculation gained momentum recently after the government suspended the annual Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage on August 1, citing “maintenance works of urgent nature” on both routes to the cave shrine in south Kashmir because of heavy rains.

On Tuesday, Modi is expected to address the NDA parliamentary party meeting. This meeting of the ruling alliance’s MPs comes a couple of days before the window to nominate a candidate for the Vice-Presidential election opens. The NDA candidate’s election is a near certainty due to the alliance’s majority in the electoral college.The last day to file the nomination is August 21, which is also when the Monsoon Session concludes. The PM is expected to counter the Opposition on a host of issues that it has been raising, including the Election Commission’s (EC) alleged partisan role and the ongoing electoral roll verification in Bihar.