The BJP may have kept on the backburner its demand for abrogation of Article 370, which grants special status to the state, but the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday asserted that even Parliament doesn’t have powers to scrap the Article 370.
The PDP patron and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said the unique status of the state vindicates the position of the state with the Union. “Article 370 is the basic component of state-centre relations and this Article cannot be abrogated even by the Indian Parliament,” Mufti said while addressing an election rally, after filing nomination papers from the Anantnag Assembly constituency.
“The special status of Jammu and Kashmir in the constitution of the country itself accords special position to the state which cannot be eroded by any person or any institution,” he asserted.
Coming down heavily on the recent remarks made by some political groups over abrogating Article 370, the PDP patron said that some parties in the state at present were fulfilling their own political agenda by having frenzied dreams.
Mufti, who is the chief ministerial candidate of PDP, said the ‘divisive agenda’ of the BJP and its allies in Jammu and Kashmir could be counterchecked only through a decisive vote.
Several BJP leaders in the recent months had asserted that Article 370 would be scrapped, if the party comes to power in Jammu and Kashmir. However, after it met a stiff resistance from its Kashmir based leaders over the issue, the Saffron party has toned down.
BJP candidate from Amirakadal in Srinagar Hina Shafi Bhat recently said she will pick up a gun if her party ever scraps Article 370.
On Wednesday BJP senior leader and the Union home minister called the abrogation of Article 370 a national issue.