Srinagar, June 5 (IANS) Former J&K Chief Minister and president of the ruling National Conference (NC), Farooq Abdullah, said on Friday that his party will attend the INDIA Bloc meeting being held in Delhi on June 8.

Talking to reporters at the Hazratbal shrine after Friday prayers, Abdullah said, “The meeting is going to take place. Omar or I, one of us will go. Obviously, we are part of that. We will be there.”

Replying to a question about Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the J&K Legislative Assembly, Sunil Sharma, who said that Article 370 is “dead and buried,” Abdullah asserted that the NC will keep the issue of special status alive “till eternity.”

“The day all of us are buried in Kashmir, it (Article 370) will also be buried that day,” he said.

The NC, after a seven-hour-long meeting of its MLAs on Wednesday, announced that its legislators will protest in Delhi on the first day of Parliament’s monsoon session to press for the restoration of statehood and constitutional guarantees to J&K.

It must be mentioned that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is a multi-party political alliance formed by the Indian National Congress.

The alliance opposes the ideology and governance of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by the BJP in the 2024 general elections.

In the 2024 general election, the alliance won 234 seats, gaining more than 100 seats from its earlier strength, and secured a majority in states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Punjab.

Of the 35 parties in the INDIA Bloc, the NC, led by Abdullah, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, are part of the alliance.

–IANS

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