Nadda lauds Modi government for revoking Article 370

Ahmedabad, Jan 19: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President and Union Minister J P Nadda today praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for taking bold steps by revoking Article 370 and integrating the region into the mainstream of India.

He was delivering an address at the party’s “Samvidhan Gaurav Abhiyan” in Ahmedabad, “When you voted for Modi and made him the Prime Minister, he and Amit Shah worked tirelessly to ensure that the special status granted to J&K under Article 370 was revoked, restoring constitutional parity for the entire nation,” the Union Minister said.

Nadda highlighted a point about the Constitution’s provisions for Jammu and Kashmir, stating that the original draft, presented by Ambedkar and handed over to Rajendra Prasad, the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, did not include special status for the region. However, he pointed out that Nehru’s government pushed for this controversial move, which Nadda argued was against the original vision of a unified Indian state. He emphasised that while Dr Ambedkar had opposed Article 370 as a temporary provision, it became a permanent fixture due to political motives.

Nadda accused the Congress of tampering with the Constitution during 65 years of ruling, alleging that its leaders attempted to destroy the foundational principles of the document.

Nadda said, “The Congress ruled the country for 65 years, but its leaders worked against the Constitution. They tried to undermine its basic provisions, including Jawaharlal Nehru’s support for granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir.”

He claimed that although the framers of the Constitution, led by Dr B R Ambedkar crafted a comprehensive and well-thought-out document, but the Congress-led government’s actions did not reflect the same spirit.

“In 1975, the Allahabad High Court delivered a landmark ruling on Indira Gandhi’s election, declaring it void due to corrupt practices. Fearing the loss of power, she declared an Emergency to safeguard her position. This was a direct attack on democracy,” Nadda said, further criticising Congress’ approach towards constitutional matters.