'Scrapping of J-K spl status was BJP's national commitment'

BJP working president J P Nadda on Sunday said scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 was the "national commitment" of his party which was fulfilled by the Narendra Modi government.

Addressing a meeting of BJP activists here, Nadda explained the process of nullifying Articles 370 and 35 A which granted special rights to residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

"It was our national commitment and love towards the people of J&K. We wanted to bring the people there into the mainstream," Nadda said hailing the "will power" and "tactics" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, respectively.

In a historic decision, the Centre last month withdrew the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.

"Jammu and Kashmir is now fully under control of India. All the 104 acts of India will be applicable there," he said.

Nadda also said a delimitation exercise will be carried out and reservation for SCs and STs will be made before elections are held in the J-K region.

He criticised the Congress for opposing the passing of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation bill.

"Many countries supported India on this issue which is a big achievement for us. The BJP has accomplished an impossible task," he said, adding that those who drafted the Constitution, including B R Ambedkar and N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar were farsighted and inserted a clause in the Constitution.

He said Pakistan stood isolated on the issue at the global level.