Omar invites Jaitely to participate in R-day celebrations

In a goodwill gesture, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah spoke to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitely and invited party members, who were arrested for trying to enter the state, to attend the Republic Day function either in Jammu or in Srinagar.

Omar's move comes hours after the BJP delegation led by Jaitely and Sushma Swaraj was stopped at Lakhanpur. They were proceeding towards Srinagar to hoist the tricolour at the historic Lal Chowk.

He told PTI tonight that he had extended an invitation to the BJP delegation for being the guest at the Republic Day function at any of the two cities.

"The state government will facilitate their participation at either of the venues," he said. The CM said that he had also ordered the release of all BJP workers who had courted arrest as well as the BJP MLAs detained during the day.

Earlier this evening, Omar chaired a high-level meeting during which preparations for Wednesday's celebrations were reviewed. Omar appealed to the people to defeat the separatists' plan to disrupt the Republic Day celebrations.