Restore statehood of J&K, says Jairam Ramesh; PDP welcomes statement

What was done on the 5th of August 2019 was a grave insult to the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have been with India for decades, said Ramesh

| Updated: 21 January, 2023 8:19 pm IST

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has called PM Modi a 'dictator PM'

In an interview with a TV channel Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh during Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu said that abrogation of article 370 is a big insult to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Talking to the TV channel he said “I think Jammu and Kashmir must be restored to full statehood at the earliest. That’s the very least we can do. What was done on the 5th of August 2019 was a grave insult to the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have been with India for decades,” said Ramesh.

Welcoming the statement of Jairam Ramesh PDP spokesperson Mohit Bhan said “We have been reiterating it from day one that in the manner the abrogation of article 370 was done is not only an insult to the people of Jammu & Kashmir but to the people of the entire nation.

Jammu & Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah had earlier received the Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra in Lakhanpur Jammu. He also compared Gandhi to Adi Shankaracharya for traveling from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

Both JKNC and JKPDP had formed the state government in alliance with the Congress party in the past. Both have had a tumultuous relationship with Congress. PDP withdrew its support to Ghulam Nabi Azad-led Congress government after the Amarnath land row erupted in 2008. Similarly, JKNC also distanced itself from the Congress-led UPA after 2014.

But since the abrogation of article 370 in J&K, JKPDP, JKNC, and Congress have time and again criticized the BJP-led government’s decision of abrogating article 370 from J&K and demanded immediate restoration of statehood.

All these parties have taken diametric opposite positions to BJP on the policies implied by the Central government. They also have accused BJP of creating social and religious polarization within the country.

The political game of these parties is to isolate BJP politically in J&K with the hope of garnering maximum support from the people of the valley and Pir Panjal and their support to Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra is aimed at keeping the door open to form any future political alliance in long pending assembly elections whenever they take place in J&K.