Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thrown down the gauntlet to the Congress and other opposition parties, daring them to reinstate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. In response to queries regarding opposition leaders' promises to restore Article 370, Modi, in an interview with News18, emphasized that anyone with a grasp of India's constitution and federal structure would refrain from making such assertions.
Modi clarified that the reinstatement of Article 370 falls outside the purview of the opposition. He reiterated that even as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, he would not have the authority to do so. The Prime Minister stressed that the central and state governments will operate within their constitutional boundaries. He criticized what he described as a trend of deceiving the public to keep them uninformed. Modi challenged the Congress to publicly declare its intent to restore Article 370, continuing his critique of the opposition party's rhetoric on the Constitution and Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Highlighting the historical context, Modi pointed out that the Indian Constitution did not apply to Jammu and Kashmir for 70 years until the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. He noted that after the abrogation, Dalits and Valmikis in J&K are now benefiting from reservations for the first time.
The decision to revoke Article 370 was made by the Narendra Modi government on August 5, 2019, effectively ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and restructuring it into two Union territories. The Supreme Court upheld this decision on December 11, 2023, rejecting claims that Article 370 was a permanent provision and calling for elections in the region by September 2024, along with the expeditious restoration of statehood.
At a recent rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur, PM Modi expressed optimism about the imminent restoration of statehood and the forthcoming assembly elections, signaling a potential return to normalcy in the region.
