Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday during his first visit to the national capital since taking office recently.

He is expected to submit a resolution passed by his Cabinet, calling for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s Statehood.

Following an outstanding victory in the recent Assembly elections in the Union Territory, where Abdullah’s National Conference secured 42 out of the 90 Assembly seats, this marks a significant political development.

During its first Cabinet meeting, the new government passed a resolution urging the central government to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s Statehood, which was subsequently approved by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

The move towards reinstating statehood is viewed as a critical step in promoting reconciliation, upholding constitutional rights, and preserving the distinctive identity of the region’s inhabitants.

Endorsed by his Cabinet, the Chief Minister now has the authority to engage with the Prime Minister and the central government to advocate for the reinstatement of Jammu and Kashmir’s Statehood.

Abdullah also engaged with Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, discussing road connectivity projects in Jammu and Kashmir during their meeting at Gadkari’s office, where Abdullah presented a traditional Kashmiri shawl.

On Wednesday, the Chief Minister had a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to address various issues concerning the Union Territory, focusing on the prompt restoration of Statehood. This meeting was described as a courtesy call, during which Abdullah briefed the Union Home Minister on the situation and the Statehood restoration matter.

Abdullah’s visit followed a recent tragic terror attack in the Gangangeer area of Ganderbal district, where seven individuals, including a doctor, were ruthlessly killed by terrorists just three days prior.

Since the reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory in 2019, the police force has been under the jurisdiction of the Union Home Ministry.

As many as 300 trains have been cancelled by Indian Railways on account of cyclonic storm Dana which is expected to make landfall on Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port in Odisha by Friday. The Kolkata airport has suspended all its operations starting at 6 pm on Thursday as a precautionary measure ahead of Cyclone ‘Dana’.

Flight operations at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar will remain suspended for 16 hours from Thursday evening given cyclone ‘Dana’.

“Airport operation will be suspended from 5 pm on October 24 to 9 am on October 25 due to cyclone ‘Dana’,” the statement said.

Around 150 trains were cancelled including Howrah-Secunderabad Falaknuma Express, Kamakhya-Yesvantpur AC Express, Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express, Howrah-Bhubaneswar Shatabdi Express and Howrah-Yesvantpur Express.

Additionally, the East Coast Railways has cancelled 198 trains, including Howrah-Secunderabad, Shalimar Puri, Kamakhya-Bangalore, New Delhi-Bhubaneswar, Kharagpur-Villupuram, Howrah-Bhubaneswar, Shalimar-Hyderbad, Howrah-Puri, and others.

Furthermore, the EMU local train service from Sealdah station and Hasnabad in West Bengal will remain suspended from 8 pm on Thursday to Friday.

The Eastern Railways has also cancelled several express trains, including Patna-Ernakulam Express, Kolkata-Puri, Puri-Kolkata, Dibrugarh-Kanniyakumari, and Bengaluru-Guwahati, among others.

Cyclone ‘Dana’, expected to have wind speeds reaching up to 120 km/h (75 mph), is forecasted to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port in Odisha by Friday morning as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The cyclonic storm ‘Dana,’ originating over the east-central Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, is likely to bring heavy rainfall to various southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, according to the IMD.

An official from the Meteorological Department mentioned that parts of Jharkhand might witness heavy to very heavy rainfall starting Thursday night due to the influence of cyclonic storm ‘Dana’.

In Odisha, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi confirmed that over 30 percent of the targeted 1 million people have been successfully evacuated to safe places by Wednesday evening in preparation for cyclone Dana. The government aimed to evacuate 1,060,336 individuals from 14 districts by Tuesday.

Ahead of Cyclone Dana’s landfall, all educational institutions, including schools, colleges, and universities, will remain closed in 14 districts of Odisha until October 25.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared that she would stay overnight in Nabanna to oversee the landfall and reassured that all necessary measures have been implemented to lessen the storm’s impact.

The Railway Ministry has conducted a review of preparations and directed to minimise traffic disruptions, as mentioned by General Manager of East Coast Railway Parmeshwar Funkwal.

Both the Odisha and West Bengal teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been put on standby. Furthermore, rescue and relief teams from the Army, Navy, and Coast Guard are on high alert.

As Cyclone ‘Dana’ is expected to hit the coasts of West Bengal and Odisha on October 24-25, the Indian Coast Guard is on high alert and has positioned its vessels and aircraft strategically to swiftly respond to any maritime emergencies.

“@IndiaCoastGuard Region (North East) has initiated preventive measures ahead of Cyclone ‘DANA’, expected to make landfall off #WestBengal and #Odisha between 24-25 Oct 24. Our ships, helicopters, and Dornier aircraft are fully prepared for assistance, rescue and relief operations,” it said in a post on X.

The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP after it claimed that grand old party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior Dalit leader was insulted at the time when Priyanka Gandhi was filing her nomination for Wayanad Lok Sabha byelections.

Several senior BJP leaders including Ministers and Chief Minister shared the now-viral video clip purportedly showing Kharge waiting to enter the venue where Priyanka was filing her nomination.

In the viral video, Kharge is seen looking through the door of the room where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was filing her nomination papers for Wayanad.

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, former Union Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Amit Malviya were among the BJP leaders who targeted the Congress for allegedly insulting Kharge.

The Congress, however, responded promptly by posting pictures that showed Kharge seated with senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Commenting on Shekhawat’s post, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate wrote in Hindi, “Shekhawat ji, in order to move ahead, he changed from a minister to a cheap, lying troll! At the time of filing nomination, a limited number of people (here 5) can enter. Kharge ji, Sonia ji and Rahul ji were outside. When we went inside, Kharge ji sat in the front row. Your Nadda ji is removed by pulling his hand.”

Shrinate dismissed the BJP leader Amit Malviya’s claims, stating, “You cheap liar. I wish you knew a thing or two about elections and how many people at any given time are allowed inside besides the candidate. Kharge ji, Sonia ji and Rahul Ji waited for some people to exit before they came in. Now see these pics and shut up.”

The exchange continued with Shrinate responding emphatically to the BJP leaders, calling out Himanta Biswa Sarma’s statement as “disheartening” and based on “arrogance & entitlement of the Sonia family”.

She also dismissed Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s allegations as a “lying troll” and “buffoonery”.

“Tough to imagine, this lying troll was once a minister! See the pics and shut up BTW despite losing the election and not being a Member of Parliament anymore, why does @RajeevRC_X still have a grey badge? Courtesy his former associates who now work with X?” she wrote.

In addition, the official X handle of BJP India shared the same 30-second video and made provocative remarks, stating, “If the Gandhi family can insult Kharge ji like this, then one can imagine how much hatred they must have for the Dalit community.”