Time to review Article 370, 35A in J& K: Rajnath Singh

Yash Goyal
Jaipur, April 22

Claiming that the BJP will emerge with a clear majority in the Lok Sabha elections, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said there was a need to review and assess impact of Article 370 on ‘autonomous status’ and 35A on ‘permanent residents’ in Jammu and Kashmir.  

“These two articles are required to be assessed and the time has come to know how much benefit people of J&K have received so far,” Singh told a press conference at a five star hotel after addressing a poll rally in support of his Minister of State Arjun Ram Meghwal at Kolayat in Bikaner district. 

Questions are being raised that there should be two prime ministers, if this prevails then there would be no logic to keep Article 370 and 35A in J&K, in an indirect jibe at former J&K CM Omar Abudullah, Singh said. 

When reminded that why this was not done when PDP and BJP was in power in J&K, Singh said no party was in clear majority and BJP-PDP were running the government on experimental basis as the condition was different and necessary to run the common minimum programme. 

After two phases of elections, it is very obvious that BJP will have clear majority and NDA will emerge with three-fourth majority this term too, he claimed.

Referring to Congress’ manifesto in which the party promised to end the Sedition Act, Singh said, this Act should be strengthened and a precaution be taken that no innocent person be brought under its ambit and it should not be misused. 

However, Singh denied commenting on Sadhvi Pragya’s statement on terrorism, but he did allege that Congress had given a new theory of “Hindu terrorism” which has lowered country’s stand on anti-terrorism. 

Terrorism has no religion, caste and creed, and NDA government was crushing terrorist activities, he said.  

Since the Congress has no issues for doing politics, the Congress and other opposition parties were raising questions on India’s success of airstrike in Balakot, asking the figures of casualties, he said. 

However, he maintained that the terrorist hideouts were destroyed in IAF airstrikes, and the success was achieved by killing terrorists.

The questioning by opposition parties has lowered the government’s move to curb terrorism and encouraged morale of neighboring country, he added. 

Recalling India-Pakistan agreement with General Pervez Musharraf in 2004, he said, “Pakistan had told India to curb terrorism in its home land but later the then Congress government supported that Pakistan was itself suffering from terror and diluted the whole agreement by weakening India.”

Blaming the Gehlot government for not implementing the Central Government schemes, he said the state should respect the federal structure’s sanctity for public welfare.