Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday took a dig at Congress over its stance of disagreeing with the Supreme Court judgement over the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated from Jammu and Kashmir and said the opposition party will continue to lose elections with such a stand.
Replying to debate in the Rajya Sabha on the two bills relating to Jammu and Kashmir, Amit Shah said it was an important day as the bills will be passed by Parliament on a day the Supreme Court upheld the abrogation of Article 370.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 were passed by Lok Sabha last week.
Targeting the Congress, Amit Shah said the opposition party has said it does not agree with the manner in which Article 370 has been abrogated.
He said due procedure and rules were followed while abrogating Article 370 in August, 2019 and now the Supreme Court has also given its verdict.
“Main inko nahi samjha sakta, meri maryada hai (I cannot them make them understand, I have a limit),” he said.
The Home Minister said Article 370 led to separatism, which nurtured terrorism.
He said Congress should consider changing its position. “…or your numbers will go down further. There will be a contest in 2024 (Lok Sabha polls), Modiji will become PM for the third time,” Shah said.
Congress on Monday said that the judgement of the Supreme Court in the cases concerning the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution has decided many issues but has left open some issues that are also vitally important.
“Prima facie, we respectfully disagree with the judgement on the manner in which Art. 370 was abrogated. We reiterate the Congress Working Committee resolution dated August 6, 2019 that Art. 370 deserved to be honoured until it was amended strictly in accordance with the Constitution of India,” Congress leader P Chidambaram said addressing a joint press conference.
“We are also disappointed that the Supreme Court did not decide the question of dismembering the State and reducing its status to two Union Territories. That question has been reserved for adjudication in a suitable case in the future,” he said.
“The Indian National Congress has always demanded the restoration of full statehood for what has become the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. We welcome the Supreme Court’s verdict in this regard. Full statehood must be restored immediately. The aspirations of the people of Ladakh must also be fulfilled,” he added.
Chidambaram said the party welcomes the Supreme Court’s direction to hold assembly elections. “However, we believe that the elections should be held immediately and there is no reason to wait until September 2024. When elections are held, the people of Jammu & Kashmir will have an opportunity to express their views on the crucial questions that were debated in the Hon’ble Supreme Court — an opportunity that has been denied to them so far,” Chidambaram added.
The Congress leader said the Supreme Court judgement has 476 pages and the party will study it carefully.
(With inputs from ANI)
