According to the Home Minister, Article 370 provides special status as a “terrible blunder” that Modi corrected in 2019.
Ahmedabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday for “resolving the problem” left in Jammu and Kashmir by the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He called Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a “terrible error” that Mr. Modi fixed in 2019.
Mr. Shah was commencing the Gujarat BJP’s Gaurav Yatra from three points in the Ahmedabad region and from Navsari in south Gujarat.
“Due to the mistake of Jawaharlal Nehru, who inserted Article 370, Kashmir was in a mess. It could not be appropriately integrated with the rest of the country. Everybody wanted the removal of Article 370. Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed it in one stroke and completed the integration of Kashmir with the country in 2019,
“Kashmir was in shambles due to Jawaharlal Nehru’s error in inserting Article 370.” It was unable to merge adequately with the rest of the country. Everyone wanted Article 370 repealed. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi dismantled it in a single stroke and finalized Kashmir’s unification with the country in 2019,” he told a crowd of largely BJP activists.
The ruling party has launched the Gaurav Yatra, covering 144 Assembly seats across the state via five routes. On Wednesday, BJP President J.P. Nadda inaugurated two Yatra routes, while the Union Home Minister launched three ways on Thursday.
Mr. Shah’s comments on the country’s first Prime Minister in Jammu and Kashmir come just a few days after Mr. Modi expressed a similar viewpoint when campaigning in Gujarat. He, too, blamed Pandit Nehru for the “mess” in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that he had to the right the first Prime Minister’s wrongdoing.
Top BJP leaders have criticized the Congress and its leaders on various issues and subjects, including Jammu and Kashmir, for failing to visit Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity, targeting Gujarat during the UPA regime, and failing to develop the state during the previous Congress administrations.
The ruling BJP officials have credited Mr. Modi with “resolving” the Jammu and Kashmir conflict, constructing a majestic temple for Lord Ram in Ayodhya, and ushering in development politics in the country.
“Explore Somnath, Dwarka, Kashi, Kedarnath, and Ujjain.” “The Narendra Modi government has developed all houses of worship that were allowed to fend for themselves during the Congress government,” the Home Minister added.
Mr. Shah blasted the Congress, claiming that its appeasement politics were to blame for communal riots in Gujarat in the 1980s and 1990s.
“There hasn’t been a curfew in Gujarat since 2001 when Modi saheb became the state’s chief minister,” he remarked.
Mr. Shah also discussed the Army’s surgical strikes in 2016 and air strikes in Pakistan in 2019 and praised Mr. Modi’s stern stance on terrorism sponsored by the neighbouring country.
