Prove that Mukherjee agreed to Article 370, else apologise: Rajnath Singh to Hasnain Masoodi

Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, on Tuesday, reacted strongly to National Conference (NC) MP Hasnain Masoodi's statements in the Lok Sabha in which he had suggested that Article 370 was approved by BJP founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee.

"Since the member (Hasnain Masoodi) of the House has said Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee brought the proposal for Article 370. Either the member should present a factual reference or he must apologise to the House," Singh said in the Lok Sabha today.

Earlier during the discussions, Masoodi had alleged that as per Gopalaswami Ayyangar, a member of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution, Mukherjee had agreed to Article 370 and urged the BJP to look into the matter.

"Today you (BJP) say no, when did we say this..you say this was temporary..you go and read Gopalaswami Ayyangar's speech. 370 was made with Mukherjee's approval," Masoodi had said.

The speeches were made during in the Lok Sabha during the discussions on the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019, which Home Minister Amit Shah had slated for discussion.

The central government in its decision on Monday scrapped the Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and barred people from the rest of the country from buying property there.