Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's statement that Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) should be removed from some parts of the state was "not unusual".
"On September 25, 2010 the CCS finalized a 8-point agenda to restore normalcy in J & k. Point 6 of that states the State Govt will review deployment of security forces, bunkers in Srinagar and also review areas declared as disturbed areas. The CM move therefore is nothing new or unusual," said the Home Minister.
However, he said, if Congress, an ally of the coalition government in the state, desired "more consultations" that was perfectly understandable. There could be more consultations in the Cabinet too. In a democracy, we can have consultations any number of times, he said.
The Minister said the process of review of is a CCS decision and this is not not something unusual.
"Let the Chief Minister come back to us after conducting a review. This is a CCS decision and I am part of the CCS," he said.
Mr Abdullah had announced at a police function that the AFSPA would be removed from some areas in Jammu and Kashmir.
After the Chief Minister's recent announcement on the government's keenness to partially withdraw AFSPA from some areas of the state, JK PCC Chief Saif-ud-din Soz had complained that Mr Abdullah has not consulted his party.