J&K's accession to India ‘irrevocable’: VP Naidu ‘

Art 370 had outlived its purpose’

JAMMU: Asserting that Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state special status, was a temporary provision that had outlived its purpose a long time back, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India is "total, final and irrevocable".

The accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian Union is "total, final and irrevocable", the vice president said, adding that "Article 370 was only a temporary provision and it had outlived its purpose long back".

The Modi government had last year abrogated the article's provisions that gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and had bifurcated it into union territories Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The vice president also called for a total war on corruption and described it as a "major canker" that skews growth and development, deepens poverty and increases inequality, according to the statement.

He was delivering the Sardar Patel lecture on governance in New Delhi.

Naidu called upon all Indians to work together to usher in the 'Ram Rajya' envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi in which, he said, there is all-round inclusive growth without poverty, discrimination, inequality, illiteracy and hunger, according to an official statement.

"Every citizen must strive to protect the unity, safety, security and sovereignty of the country," Naidu said after paying tributes to India's first home minister Vallabhbhai Patel, who is credited with the integration of hundreds of regions with the Union.