Omar Abdullah likely to be moved from Hari Niwas ahead of ministers' J&K visit

Former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah is likely to be shifted to a house near his official residence at Hari Niwas after he was taken into preventive custody following the abrogation of Article 370, according to reports.

He is likely to be moved on Thursday in order to make accommodations for the ministerial delegation from the Centre that is scheduled to visit the valley later this week, officials said.

Omar was among the mainstream political leaders and social activists detained to prevent mass mobilisation against Centre's decision to withdraw Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories.

He was placed under house arrest along with two other former chief ministers, his father Omar Abdullah and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti. While 82-year-old Farooq Abdullah has been under detention at his home, Mufti is at a guest house on Transport Lane.

A group of 36 Union ministers will visit Jammu and Kashmir later this week in a massive outreach to raise awareness about the 'positive impact' of Modi government's decision to withdraw Article 370 last year. The ministers will also tell people about the measures taken by the government for their welfare.

Senior leaders including Anurag Thakur, Giriraj Singh, Prahlad Joshi, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Renuka Singh, Jitendra Singh and Kiren Rijiju are among the other ministers who will visit different districts. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal is also expected to visit Jammu and Kashmir on January 19.

This is the first visit of Union ministers to the region after the Centre revoked its special status and bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

Starting from January 18, the ministers will visit a total of 52 places in J&K. They will reach out to people across the UT up to panchayat level and tell them how the recent legislation will be beneficial for them, as well as inform about Centre's plans to expedite the development process in the region.