Scrapping of Article 370 unconstitutional, against democracy: Priyanka

Priyanka Gandhi is currently in village Umbha of UP to visit the victims of Sonbhadra massacre

In her first reaction to the scrapping of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Tuesday said it was done in an unconstitutional manner.

The manner in which it has been done is totally unconstitutional and against the principles of democracy," she told reporters Umbha, the village where 10 tribals were killed in July in a land dispute.

"There are rules that have to be followed when such things are done, which have not been followed," she said. The Congress general secretary said her party always stood for safeguarding the Constitution.

"Unlike the BJP where only one voice is heard, in the Congress every voice is given importance and properly discussed to reach a conclusion," she said.

Last week, Parliament adopted a resolution approving a government move to scrap provisions of Article 370 which gave J&K a special status under the Constitution and also passed a Bill splitting J&K into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Umbha village, nearly a month after the UP administration prevented her from going to the site of the massacre by detaining her in Mirzapur.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma described her visit as a "political stunt".