BJP leader questions Soz on Article 370

Asserting that article 370 of the Constitution granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir is most pernicious and against the interest of the unity of the country, senior BJP leader C L Gupta has questioned the statement of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Saif-ud-Din Soz, that the article cannot be abrogated.

The leader of the BJP Legislators Party said in a statement here today that there have been about hundred amendments since the Constitution came into being and Soz himself had been there when some of these amendments took place.

Soz had earlier said the article 370 cannot be abrogated as the J&K Constituent Assembly, which enacted this provision, did not exist now and for having a change a new Constituent Assembly would have to be framed.

In the case of article 370, the issue of its abrogation should not be difficult because this provision has been inserted as "temporary" one, Gupta claimed.

He alleged that the provision provided opportunity to the ruling leaders to blackmail the Centre by raising controversial slogans.