Ex-R&AW Chief's revelations nothing new: Mehbooba on Abdullah's 'support' for Article 370 abrogation

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti addresses revelations about Article 370 abrogation and political alliances in Kashmir.

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday (April 17, 2025) said she was not surprised by the revelations made by former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief A. S. Dulat in his latest book about National Conference president Farooq Abdullah “privately” supporting the abrogation of Article 370.

"Dulat's revelations are nothing new for me. This father-son duo [Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah] went to meet them [Prime Minister Narendra Modi] on August 3 [2019]. Farooq Sahib did not even go to Parliament [on August 5, 2019]. He stayed back. So there is nothing surprising for me," Ms. Mufti said while addressing a PDP workers' convention in Srinagar on April 17.

Article 370 granting special status to the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated by the Centre on August 5, 2019.

Ms. Mufti also claimed that in 2014, Omar Abdullah met Amit Shah for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

"He told Shah not to form a government with the PDP but to go with the National Conference and that too unconditionally," she alleged.

Mr. Dulat's book, titled "The Chief Minister and the Spy", is slated to be released on April 18.

Ms. Mufti also claimed that one of the cornerstones of PDP's alliance with the BJP from 2015 to 2018 was that Article 370 will not be touched.