Congress to join NC’s Jantar Mantar protest on Monday, BJP plans secretariat gherao

SRINAGAR: Politics is heating up in J&K ahead of NC’s proposed protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on July 20 over restoration of statehood, with Congress Friday announcing it would join the sit-in.BJP has planned a gherao of the secretariat in Srinagar on the same day to protest the NC govt’s “corruption, arbitrary governance, and policies that undermine democratic institutions”.“We have to go there and make our voices heard,” said Congress’s GA Mir, adding that the protest would be held even if permission was denied. “Delhi does not belong to anyone. We will enter from anywhere,” he added.Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone, however, questioned the timing and motive behind the protest. “Major political decisions in a democracy require consensus, not unilateral calls to the street,” he said, insisting that the NC govt should instead call a special assembly session, pass a resolution on statehood, and then send an all-party delegation to the PM, before taking the protest route.Lone alleged the protest might not really be about statehood at all but about quietly burying the demand for Articles 370 and 35A.