Bold step towards strengthening national integration: Advani on Article 370 scrapping

Soon after the central government scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution, veteran BJP leader LK Advani said that it's a "bold step towards strengthening national integration."

"I am happy with the Government's decision to revoke Article 370 and I believe that it is a bold step towards strengthening national integration," Advani said in a statement.

"The scrapping of Article 370 has been a part of BJP's core ideology since the days of Jan Sangh.I congratulate the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Home Minister Amit Shah for this historic initiative and pray for peace, prosperity and progress in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh," he added.

The Centre on Monday scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Shortly after Home Minister Amit Shah tabled a resolution to this effect in Rajya Sabha, President Ram Nath Kovind came out with a notification -- The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 that will come into force immediately.

The order will supersede the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 as amended from time to time.

The notification also made clear that all the provisions of the Constitution as amended from time to time, shall apply in relation to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the exceptions and modifications subject to which they shall so apply.

Shah also moved the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill in the Upper House, that converted the state into a Union Territory with legislature, and hived off Ladakh region into another Union Territory without legislature.

The decisions mark a new milestone in the country's politics with the BJP-led government breaking new grounds on issues that have been virtually untouched in last more than 70 years.