Pranab, Chidambaram to join all-party team to J&K

The Congress on Friday decided to send senior ministers Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram as part of an all-party delegation to Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, apparently to impart greater stature to the visit.

The decision was taken a meeting held by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi with Mukherjee, Chidambaram and other senior leaders like A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Prithviraj Chavan and Saifuddin Soz, party sources said.

The meeting took place a day after the party top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gandhi, reviewed the situation in the state witnessing unrest for the last three months, at the meeting of the Congress core group on Thursday.

The decision to send the delegation was taken at an all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been witnessing violence for the past three months.

Sources said the delegation will be in the state for three days during which it will meet leaders of political parties and various other sections of the society. The delegation will gather various shades of opinion on the current situation in the state and ways to deal with it.