Congress accuses BJP of making ‘false promises’ on Article 370

PTI, Jul 10, 2019, 5:28 PM IST

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress Wednesday staged a sit-in outside the Governor’s house here, accusing the BJP of making “false promises” with regard to the abrogation of Articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution.

The Congress activists were led by senior party leader and Jammu district president Vikram Malhotra.

Article 370 grants a special status to Jammu and Kashmir and limits Parliament’s power to make laws concerning the state while Article 35A empowers the state assembly to define ‘permanent residents’ for bestowing special rights and privileges on them.

“The stand of the Congress Party on Article 370 is clear. It should continue without any dilution. We have assembled here to expose the BJP, which garnered votes by making false promises to the people of the country in general and Jammu in particular,” Malhotra told reporters.

He accused the BJP of misleading people by its “jumla baazi”.

“State BJP president (Ravinder Raina) and their affiliate groups like the VHP and Bajrang Dal are making statements in support of the revocation of Articles 35A and 370, but the state governor (Satya Pal Malik) had made it clear nothing will happen, while saying no to the delimitation of assembly constituencies,” he said.

Last month, the governor, responding to a question about special constitutional provisions for the state, had said there was nothing to worry about this despite the fact that “promises to this effect had been made in manifestos of many political parties.

He had also dismissed reports about the delimitation of assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir as “rumours”.

“If the BJP is sincere, it should announce a deadline for the implementation of its promises,” Malhotra said.

The Congress workers also raised slogans against the state administration for its “failure” to ensure proper electricity and water supply. “They are unable to provide electricity and water to the consumers which is evident from frequent protests in Jammu and are selling dreams like making Jammu a smart city,” Malhotra said.