People of J&K thankful to PM for mitigating their pain: BJP on Art 370

The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP on Monday welcomed the government's "historic" decision on Article 370 of the Constitution, which grants special status to the state, saying the people were thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "mitigating their pain".

Reacting to the developments after Home Minister Amit Shah moved a resolution in Rajya Sabha to revoke Article 370, state BJP president Ravinder Raina said the residents of Jammu and Kashmir irrespective of their caste, creed and religion are with the prime minister.

"It is a historic moment for Jammu and Kashmir... the entire population of the state is thankful to him (Modi) for mitigating their pain," Raina said.

"Modi was the first to reach out to Kashmiris when they were facing the brunt of devastating floods in 2014. He visited them and made every effort to ensure their safety," he added.

Senior BJP leader and former deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh too congratulated the people and said the whole country had waited for over 70 years for this moment.

"Jammu and Kashmir has integrated into India and the historic decision of the Centre will further cement its relation with the state. The bill will get passed to fulfil the long standing dream of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," Singh said.

The BJP-led government is completing the work left behind by Sardar Patel who integrated 562 princely states including Jammu and Kashmir to lay the foundation of strong India, he said.

"The beginning has started and will be taken to its logical conclusion," he said accusing country's first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru for creating a provision under Article 370 to guarantee special status to Jammu and Kashmir as part of his policy to appease National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.