New Delhi: Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia is the latest among a host of Congress leaders ditching the party line on the modification of Article 370 - granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir- and bifurcation of the former state.
He took to Twitter to express his support for the contentious move made by the Bharatiya Janta Party-led central government' s decision.
"I support the move on Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh and its full integration into union of India. Would have been better if constitutional process had been followed. No questions could have been raised then. Nevertheless, this is in our country’s interest and I support this," he tweeted.
Scindia was preceded by another Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP Ranjeet Ranjan said that Article 370 is a provision that eventually had to be revoked.
"Because we're in Opposition, people expect us to oppose. But in my opinion, the decision to revoke Article 370, that was anyway temporary and had to be revoked, is the right decision," she said.
Ranjan added,"This is the right move by the government as it integrates Kashmiris with the other people of the nation. Kashmiri women used to be denied property rights if they married a person from another state. With the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, these issues would be addressed."
These statements have come at a day when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the “abuse of executive power” by the ruling BJP and said the move would have grave implications for India’s national security.
Gandhi’s statement, voicing strong opposition to the way the government went about repealing the special status, comes at a time when an internal rift in the Congress has come to the fore over the stand taken by the party on the crucial issue.
“This nation is made by its people, not plots of land,” he wrote on Twitter, spelling out what the party line would be going forward.
“National integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution. This nation is made by its people, not plots of land,” he said.
Going against the party's stand, senior Congress leaders Janardan Dwivedi and Deepender Hooda also have voiced support to the move.
In an embarrassment to the Congress, another leader Anil Shastri said the grand old party should sense the mood of the people before taking a stand, noting that they were with the government on this.
Shastri also said on Twitter, "Congress must sense the mood of the people and then take a stand. The people are totally with the government on this issue. We opposed Mandal and lost UP and Bihar and should not risk now of losing India."
Janardan Dwivedi welcomed the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, saying even though it came late,a historical mistake had been corrected.
The Congress has been a divided house after the government on Monday moved to end special status to Jammu and Kashmir by amending Article 370 with a presidential decree, and turn the state into two Union Territories, which would give the Centre all the power in the region.
Congress leader Deepender Hooda, the son of former Haryanaa Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had also welcomed the government move and so had another leader Jaiveer Shergill.
Hooda contended that the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir "is in the interest of national integrity".
Congress MLA from Rae Bareli Aditi Singh also said on Twitter, "United we stand! Jai Hind. #Article370."
When someone reminded her that she was a Congress leader, Singh replied back, saying,
"Main ek Hindustani hoon (I am an Indian)." She termed it a historic decision and urged people not to politicise it. Singh's Assembly segment -- Rae Bareli Sadar -- is a part of UPA chairperson and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency.
This was in sharp contrast to the stand taken by the party in Parliament. Azad and Chidambaram had called the repeal of special status as "murder of democracy" in Rajya Sabha, while Manish Tewari called it a constitutional travesty in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
While senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad and P Chidambaram vehemently opposed the move in Rajya Sabha on Monday, senior party leaders, including Janardan Dwivedi, a Congress veteran and Gandhi family loyalist, took a different stand.
However, Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora said it was "very unfortunate" that Article 370 was being converted into a "liberal vs conservative debate".
"Parties should put aside ideological fixations & debate what's best for India's sovereignty and federalism, peace in J&K, jobs for Kashmiri youth and justice for Kashmiri Pandits,"he said in a tweet.
"Abolishing Article 370 of the Indian Constitution could well be dubbed Modi Sarkar 2.0's demonetisation moment. For the sake of peace and development in Jammu & Kashmir, I hope this decision plays out more favourably than demonetisation did," Deora noted.
