Article 370 row: Advani takes on Omar Abdullah

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Lal Krishna Advani has lashed out at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and advised him against using offensive language.

"Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, has every right to disagree with the BJP on matters relating to J and K. But I would advise him never to use offensive language and words like 'cheating' and 'deceiving' in that context," Advani said in his blog.

The BJP veteran in his blog said that even the Congress Party - other than former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and a few other leaders - was strongly opposed to according a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Advani also quoted from a biography of Sardar Patel to argue that even the latter was against Article 370, but did not push for it due to his regard for Pandit Nehru.

Advani, 85, said his party has not only been unequivocal, forthright and consistent from the time Jana Sangh (BJP's predecessor) was born in 1951 till today, but it is an issue for which the party's Founder-President laid down his own life

Omar Abdullah had earlier on Wednesday hit out at the BJP leaders for demanding the abrogation of Article 370 in the Constitution that grants special state to Jammu and Kashmir.