Srinagar- A disagreement has erupted between alliance partners National Conference (NC) and Congress over the recently passed ‘special status resolution’ by Jammu & Kashmir Assembly. While the NC asserts that the resolution calls for the restoration of Article 370 and 35A, Congress insists that the resolution does not demand the return of these provisions.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra said that the resolution passed in the assembly has not raised the demand for the restoration of Article 370, nor is there any mention of it.
The party had already made its stance clear on the issue when the J & K Assembly passed the resolution, he said.
“We have already said that the only thing left to demand after the Supreme Court verdict on Article 370 is statehood,” he said.
Karra, who represents the central Shalteng Assembly segment, said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is misrepresenting facts for political gains.
“Despite our clear-cut statement, the BJP is misrepresenting facts in elections,” he said.
AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge Thursday contested Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertion that the Congress intends to reinstate Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, and pointed out the contentious provision was repealed by Parliament.
He accused the BJP of keeping the Article 370 issue alive merely to create divisions in society.
Addressing a press conference in Pune, Kharge accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of abusing the Congress and its senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
“Amit Shah, in his poll rallies, accuses the Congress of spreading lies. (But) He (himself) is saying the Congress wants to bring back Article 370 (in J&K). Tell me, who said that and when? You are raking up an issue. If it (resolution to repeal Article 370) had been already passed in Parliament, why are you raking up the issue again? It means you want to keep the issue alive to divide. If you want to say this, go to Kashmir and say it. Elections are over in Kashmir,” Kharge noted.
These statements have come after the Bharatiya Janata Party has been repeatedly asking Congress to clear its stance on Article 370.
This, however, hasn’t gone well with the ruling National Conference. NC leader and parliamentarian from Srinagar Lok Sabha Seat, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi vehemently disagreed with Karra’s statement, asserting that the resolution explicitly rejects the abrogation of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status and calls for the restoration of guarantees, including Article 370 and 35A, in their original form.
Ruhullah on Friday said that Congress has no right to misinterpret the resolution passed by the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly in its first session.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Ruhullah said that “no INC president or JKPCC president has a right to misinterpret the resolution passed by the J&K Legislative Assembly in the last session.”
“The purpose of that resolution is to express the people’s disapproval of all the amendments and unconstitutional abrogation of the guaranteed (Special) Status of J&K from the year 1953 to 2019,” he said.
He added that the resolution calls for the return of all the guarantees in their original shape and form as they were operational before 1953, including Article 370 and 35A.
“Let alone JKPCC or any other entity. Even if anyone from within @JKNC_ tries to misinterpret the resolution otherwise and against the wishes of the people, they will be rejected and pushed by the people to a corner of irrelevance as the allies of BJP were in the last election,” he said.
Notably, J&K assembly passed a resolution introduced by National Conference (NC) that calls on the Union govt to initiate discussions on the restoration of the former state’s special status.
“This legislative assembly reaffirms the importance of the special status and constitutional guarantees, which safeguarded the identity, culture, and rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and expresses concern over their unilateral removal. This assembly emphasises that any process for restoration must safeguard both national unity and the legitimate aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the resolution said.
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