Rahul Gandhi terms bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir as 'abuse of power'
New Delhi, Aug 6 (IBNS): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has termed the Narendra Modi government's historic step to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories as an "abuse of executive power" which will have "grave implications" on the "national security".
Breaking silence on the matter, Rahul, the former Congress president, on Tuesday tweeted, "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. This abuse of executive power has grave implications for our national security."
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.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 6, 2019
This abuse of executive power has grave implications for our national security.
In a landmark day which witnessed day-long debates, the Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 which proposes to bifurcate the terror-hit northern state into two Union Territories - J&K, a Union Territory with Legislative Assembly, and Ladakh, a UT without Legislative Assembly.
Also the Modi government scrapped Article 35 A and Article 370 which were used to give Jammu and Kashmir a special status.
Article 35A of the Indian Constitution allows the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and also provides special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.
Article 370 allows Jammu and Kashmir to have its own constitution, flag and right to handle its own laws except on matters that impact national security.
As several opposition parties walked away, the majority mark of the Upper House was brought down while some non-BJP lawmakers also supported the government's move.
Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal, Jagan Reddy's YSR Congress, N Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and quite surprisingly Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party supported the government on the bill.
About 125 lawmakers voted for the bill and 61 against it in the 242-member Rajya Sabha.
The bill has been moved in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
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