Need to review Art 370 in J&K: Rajnath

Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh says there is a need to review Article 370 and 35-A that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir to establish whether these Constitutional provisions have benefited or done damage to the militancy-hit state.

Singh's remark comes against the backdrop of the BJP's stand in its manifesto pledging to abrogate Article 370 and 35-A of the Constitution. BJP President Amit Shah has also repeatedly spoken about scrapping these provisions during the Lok Sabha poll campaign.

The home minister also said a decision on holding assembly elections in the state was the prerogative of the Election Commission but indicated a decision could be announced after the completion of the Lok Sabha polls.

Singh was replying to a question during an interview to PTI recently as to whether BJP thinks that abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution will help resolve the Kashmir issue which he termed as challenging.

"Kashmir ek chunauti hai lekin uska hal jaldi niklega (Kashmir is a challenge but it will be resolved soon)," said Singh, who was the chairman of the BJP manifesto committee.

When pointedly asked whether abrogation of Article 370 and 35A was a solution, Singh said, "muje yeh lagta hai ki sameksha kee jani chahiye ki dhara 370 ya 35-A ke karan Kashmir ko laab hua hai ya haani (I feel that a review should be done whether Article 370 or 35-A has benefited Kashmir or damaged it)."
"The need for security forces for assembly elections is huge and there was a need for deployment in other states as well for Lok Sabha polls. Now that the parliamentary polls are nearing end, the Election Commission can decide on the dates."