BJP misleading country over special status resolution: J&K Congress

With an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the BJP has been misleading the people of the country over the recently passed resolution on the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress claimed on Sunday.

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on November 7 passed a resolution moved by the ruling National Conference, seeking a dialogue between the Centre and elected representatives from the region for the restoration of the erstwhile state’s special status.

The passage of the resolution last week irked BJP members who staged protests and disrupted the first session of the newly elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

“The BJP can go to any extent to befool people on emotional issues... There is no mention of Article 370 or Article 35-A (in the resolution). But the BJP’s top leadership are crying hoarse to mislead the nation against the Congress ahead of Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections,” said the Congress’ Jammu and Kashmir unit vice-president Ravinder Sharma. He said the Congress stands committed to fighting for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s full statehood with special status to safeguard land, jobs, natural resources and the cultural identity as is available in Himachal Pradesh and over a dozen other states, including those in the northeast region.

“The resolution seeks restoration of special status which means full statehood and constitutional guarantees for land jobs, natural resources and cultural identity of Jammu and Kashmir but BJP is trying to create a wrong notion,” said Sharma, who is also the chief spokesperson of his party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit.

“Jammu has suffered most in the last five years post-abrogation of special status (in August 2019) as our land, jobs and resources are being taken over by outsiders very rapidly and our future generations will suffer,” he claimed.

The Congress leader said it is in the best interests of all that along with full statehood, the special constitutional guarantees on the lines of Himachal Pradesh and northeastern states are worked out following dialogue with the elected representatives of Jammu and Kashmir as demanded in the resolution.

“BJP leader Amit Malviya had rightly welcomed the resolution but later the BJP saw politics into it and started playing the emotional card for the sake of vote bank politics in view of Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand,” Sharma claimed.