BJP today demanded an apology from Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for his claims that Narendra Modi had sent emissaries to meet him on the Kashmir issue. Rejecting Geelani's claims as baseless and mischievous, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters in New Delhi, that no representative of the Gujarat Chief Minister has ever met the separatist leader. He said , BJP firmly believes Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and it is committed to development of the state where good governance is the biggest casualty and where corruption has led to loss of development and progress.

Geelani had yesterday claimed that two emissaries of Modi had approached him on March 22 for a meeting with him while he was in Delhi for treatment. Geelani said that he rejected the offer citing Modi's RSS background. Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today questioned the secrecy behind the move and asked the hardline separatist leader to identify the pointmen to establish who was “lying”.

With BJP denying Geelani's claims, Omar said the easiest way to find out the truth was to identify the emissaries.

In a tweet,Omar wanted to know who the emissaries were and what offer they made as the BJP's position on Article 370 of the Constitution, which guarantees special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was known.

The Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq on the otherhand said Syed Ali Shah Geelani was making irresponsible statements aimed at creating confusion among people. Talking to reporters in Srinagar today he said the statement of Geelani is a deliberate attempt to mislead freedom-loving people of Jammu and Kashmir.