Congress has lost moral right to remain political party after Kharge’s Article 370 remarks: BJP

PTI, Apr 7, 2024, 2:37 PM IST

The Congress has lost the moral right to remain a political party after its president Mallikarjun Kharge’s remarks on the scrapping of Article 370, the BJP said on Sunday.

The BJP intensified its attack on the Congress a day after Kharge took a swipe at it over the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

”Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in Rajasthan as to what difference does it make here with the removal of Article 370. If a party says what difference does it make in other states with the integration of Kashmir, it’s clear that you (Congress) have no respect for the oath taken by every one for the unity and integrity of the country,” BJP national spokesperson Sudhansu Trivedi charged.

After Kharge’s remarks on Article 370, the Congress, ”which has almost lost the status or the right to be a national party, has now also lost the right to be even a political party from a moral point of view,” the BJP leader alleged.

The Congress can now call itself a ”conglomeration of the regional forces”, he added.

Home Minister Amit Shah had on Saturday hit out at the Congress dubbing Kharge’s remarks as ”shameful”. He also reminded the Congress that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and that every state and citizen has a right over it just as the people of Jammu and Kashmir have a right over the rest of the country.

Shah and other BJP leaders, including its president J P Nadda, had shared the short clip of Kharge’s speech on X, in which he is heard targeting the ruling party for talking about the abrogation of Article 370.

”Are bhai, yahan ke logon se kya wasta hai (what has it got to do with the people here)?” Kharge is heard asking in the clip. The Congress chief also incorrectly referred to Article 371 instead of Article 370.