By dropping at the residence of the National Conference leader and her staunch political adversary Farooq Abdullah on the issue of “abrogation” of the Article 35A of the Constitution, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has given a subtle snub to the BJP with which she is running the government in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mehbooba gave a surprise on Tuesday evening when after addressing a public meeting at Budgam she drove straight to Farooq’s residence and was with him for 20 minutes to discuss the contentious issue. Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was also present in the meeting.

The development came a day after all Kashmir centric opposition parties in J&K joined hands to oppose any tinkering with the Constitutional provision.

Omar Abdullah, on his twitter account announced about Mehbooba having come to his father’s residence on the Gupkar Road in Srinagar to discuss the contentious issue. He described the meeting as “cordial” and said the prevailing political situation in the state was discussed.

Earlier during the day while addressing a rally at Budgam, Mehbooba said the special status enjoyed by Jammu and Kashmir under the Constitution needs to be protected and preserved. The legislature of the State enjoys huge powers unlike any other State Assembly which she stressed for preserving and protecting.

Few days ago, Mehbooba had urged Farooq and the Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to come forward to protect the Article 35A which provides powers to the state to define its permanent residents.

However, by suddenly knocking at the door of Farooq, Mehbooba has given a broad indication to the BJP that she had political options in hand if the centre did not intervene in the PIL on scrapping of the Article 35A that was being heard by the Supreme Court. She was apparently annoyed that the BJP and RSS had allowed a NGO backed by them to file the PIL.

During a recent seminar in Delhi, Mehbooba had warned that any tinkering with the Article 35A would have adverse affect in Kashmir. Her warning followed by her surprise visit to Farooq indicates that all was not well in the coalition and she was keeping options open.

Farooq has already brought the Congress, CPI-M and various other local parties on one stage to protect the special position of the state. The pro-Pakistan separatists have given call for shutdown in Kashmir on August 12 on the issue.

It is worth mentioning that before Mehbooba shook hands with the BJP to form the coalition government in J&K, the National Conference and Congress had offered her outside support for forming the government instead of her tie-up with the BJP.