News Mania Desk/ Piyal Chatterjee / 19th September 2024
The Shehbaz Sharif administration and the Congress-National Conference combination were in agreement on the restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, according to Pakistan’s Minister of Defence, Khawaja Asif. The statement is made during J&K’s Assembly elections, which are the first since the former state’s special status was eliminated in 2019.
Khawaja Asif stated that there was a “high chance” that the Congress-National Conference combination will prevail in the Assembly elections and take control of the Union Territory in an interview with Geo News.
“They (the alliance) have made it an election issue. Pakistan and the National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu and Kashmir to restore Article 370 and 35A,” Asif said.
The Congress has not even addressed the restoration of Article 370 in its manifesto, despite the National Conference’s pledge to do so. Nonetheless, the Congress has pledged to work toward giving Jammu and Kashmir its full statehood back.
Reversing Article 370 and dividing the former state into two union territories continue to be contentious issues for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially those living in the Valley. Both Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP and the National Conference’s manifestos made the restoration of Article 370 a top priority.
The BJP used the comment as new ammunition to attack the Congress, claiming that the party was consistently associated with those who were “inimical to India’s interest”.
“Pakistan, a terrorist state, endorses Congress and National Conference’s position on Kashmir. How is it that, from (Gurpatwant) Pannun to Pakistan, Rahul Gandhi and his Congress are always seen on the side of those inimical to India’s interest?” BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted.
The words made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding the “existential threat” to the Sikh minority in India have been endorsed by Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Shehzad Poonawalla, the BJP spokeswoman, attacked the Congress as well, declaring that “the cat is out of the bag”. Was there ever a dbout? They can even support Pakistan in their opposition to Prime Minister Modi,” he stated.
