(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- In the run-up to the Maharashtra elections, Article 370 has once again emerged as a rallying cry for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), portraying it as a testament to the party's commitment to national integrity.
Following a recently passed special status resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with top BJP leaders Amit Shah and Smriti Irani, has sharply criticised the Opposition for allegedly backing the return of the scrapped Article 370.
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Modi launched a scathing attack on the congress on Saturday for supporting a resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly calling for the restoration of Article 370, and said it reflects the party's disregard for the Constitution and its architect BR Ambedkar.
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Addressing an election rally at Akola, Modi said,“Congress wants to push Jammu and Kashmir back into violence by restoring Article 370. Article 370 will never be restored.”
Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Modi remarked that the Congress leader, who frequently brandishes the Constitution in meetings, is now advocating for the restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir-a position entirely at odds with the vision of Ambedkar.
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Modi said the Congress and its leaders who were pretending to protect the Constitution through Samvidhan Samman Sammelans were in fact totally against the Constitution and opposed Ambedkar while he was alive and even today by disregarding the Constitution of India.
Modi said while the Congress leader publicly holds the Constitution, his party has repeatedly insulted Ambedkar's legacy and alleged that the Congress and its allies show blatant disregard for Ambedkar's Constitution, the rule of law, and the sentiments of the Indian people.
Modi said for 75 years India effectively operated under two constitutions- one in Jammu and Kashmir and another for the rest of the country- and said strengthening the Congress would lead to a weakened and helpless nation.
“Congress knows that the weaker the country, the stronger the party becomes. When Congress grows stronger, the nation grows weaker. That's why they pit different castes against each other,” he said.
He further accused the Congress of preventing unity among Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC), and alleged that the party encourages division to fragment their votes and diminish their collective power.
“If you remain divided among your own castes, Congress will exploit this division to snatch away the rights of the SC community and establish its government at your expense,” he said.
At a rally in Sangli, Maharashtra, Union Home Minister Amit Shah took an even sharper tone. Challenging Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shah proclaimed,“From the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, I am telling you, Rahul baba, that neither you nor your fourth generation will be able to restore Article 370.”
He recalled the circumstances surrounding the 2019 repeal:“When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the decision to abrogate Article 370, I brought the bill [in Parliament] but Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, and Stalin opposed the move. They said do not remove Article 370 as it would lead to bloodshed in the Valley. Forget rivers of blood, nobody dared to throw a stone,” Shah remarked.
“Rahul Gandhi now rides a motorcycle in Kashmir and plays snowball with his sister because of the abrogation of Article 370,” Shah said.
Union Minister Smriti Irani took a firm stance against the Congress-led INDIA bloc's support for Article 370's restoration, emphasising national unity:“I want to assure all leaders of the INDI alliance and citizens of the country that the abrogation of Article 370, passed by Parliament, will not be restored. And their effort to divide India will not succeed,” she declared. Irani went on to call the November 6 resolution by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly a 'disregard and insult' to decisions by Parliament and the Supreme Court on the matter.
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