BJP youth wing will spearhead flag hoisting in Srinagar: Sushma Swaraj

NEW DELHI - Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has reiterated its determination to hoist the Tricolour in Srinagar on Republic Day, the party leadership has revealed that its youth wing will be involved in the event.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj revealed in a Tweet that it was essentially a “Yuva Morcha” program, and added that senior BJP leaders would be participating and joining in it at different places.

Swaraj’s tweet comes even as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called on Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday to assess the gravity of the evolving situation, and discuss what steps needed to be taken.

The Union Home Ministry has advised the Jammu and Kashmir Government to take “cautious measures” and to desist from making “provacative statements” on the BJP’s Kashmir-bound Rashtriya Ekta Yatra and its plan to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk in the center of Srinagar on January 26.

The Central Government has said that it will adopt a “wait and watch” approach and is ready to deploy additional security forces if demanded by the state government.

Abdullah, on his part, refused to get into specifics about what he had dsicussed with Chidambaram.

He reiterated that he hoped the BJP would do nothing to precipitate the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP has said that it hopes Abdullah and his administration will welcome the Rashtriya Ekta Yatra when it enters Srinagar. (ANI)