PM Modi dares Congress to bring back Article 370
TNN Bureau. Updated: 4/30/2024 2:44:10 AM
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Jammu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dared the Congress or state governments to bring back Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in a recent interview.
While responding to a question on opposition leaders saying that they would bring back Article 370, PM Modi, in an interview, said that whoever understands India's constitution and its jurisdiction will not say such things.
"Whoever understands the Constitution of India, whoever knows the federal structure of India, and whoever knows what is in whose jurisdiction, won’t ever say such things. Because these are not in their jurisdiction. If even Modi is the chief minister of a state, he can’t do such things," PM Modi said in an interview.
Prime Minister Modi also said that the Indian Constitution was not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir for 70 years because of the special status and added that the BJP made it possible.
"They talk big about the Constitution. They talk about Babasaheb Ambedkar. They abuse us so much. But Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution was not applicable for the entire nation. For 70 years, the Indian Constitution was not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir," the prime minister said.
PM Narendra Modi also said that the Dalits in J&K were getting the reservation for the first time.
"The Valmiki community there is getting the reservation for the first time. What do they talk of all these? Do they have the courage to say in a press conference that they will bring back Article 370 again," he said.
The BJP-led Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370, which gave special rights to Jammu and Kashmir, on August 5, 2019 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.
In December last year, the Supreme Court had upheld the Article 370 abrogation, rejecting the argument that it was a permanent provision and directed the holding of elections in the region by September 2024 and the restoration of the statehood at the earliest.
PM Modi also slammed the Congress for its manifesto, calling it influenced by the Muslim League. He also attacked Rahul Gandhi’s remark calling for an "X-ray of the country and termed it an ‘Urban Naxal’ thought, as per a News18 report.
“X-ray means raiding every household. If any woman has hidden gold where she stores grains, even that will be X-rayed. The jewels will be confiscated. Land records will be scrutinised. And these will be redistributed. This Maoist ideology has never helped the world. This is an entirely ‘Urban Naxal’ thought,” he said.