SP welcomes decisions that strengthen country's integrity: Akhilesh on scrapping of Art 370

In a guarded reaction to the scraping of the 370 of the Constitution, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said he welcomes any move that strengthens country's integrity, but the decision in a democracy must be made by consensus, not by force.

"Any move that seeks to strengthen the integrity of India is to be welcomed. But in a democracy, decisions must be made by consensus, not by threat, force or fear," said Yadav in a tweet.

"All parties should be part of talks and due process. Nothing should be unilateral for that only leads to more strife," he added.

In a bold move, the Union government on Monday scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution, taking away the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, while seeking to bifurcate the state into two Union territories - those of Jammu and Kashmir with a legislative assembly and Ladakh without an assembly.