The cabinet normally meets on every Wednesday and the reasons for convening a meeting on Monday has not been disclosed by the government yet.
The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in New Delhi on Monday, amidst speculation that the government may take some decisions on Jammu and Kashmir.
Union home minister Amit Shah and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad were the first to reach the prime minister’s residence, where the meeting is taking place, officials said.
A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, the country’s highest decision making body, and another meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs are also expected to be held separately, they said.
The cabinet normally meets on every Wednesday and the reasons for convening a meeting on Monday has not been disclosed by the government yet.
Jammu and Kashmir has been on the edge following deployment of additional security forces in the state last week.
Speculation has been rife that the Centre has plans to do away with Article 35A, which gives exclusive rights to the state’s residents in government jobs and land.
The administration of Jammu and Kashmir, which is under President’s rule, has ordered curtailment of the annual Amarnath Yatra and asked pilgrims and tourists to leave the Kashmir Valley, citing terror threat.
Outstation students, studying in the NIT in Srinagar, have also been asked to leave the campus and go home and not to return till further order.
Former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti would not be allowed to move out of their respective houses in view of the restrictions, while Congress leader Usman Majid and Communist Party of India-Marxist MLA M Y Tarigami claimed to have been arrested around midnight.
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