'With abolition of Art 370, NDA govt addressed a 72 yr issue'

The abrogation of Article 370 by the NDA government "with its firm resolve" had addressedan issue that has been plaguing the country for the past 72 years, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav said here on Saturday.

"A festering 72 year-old problem was closed in 72 hours because of the firm resolve of this government," he said, speaking at a meeting on Article 370 at Karimnagar in Telangana.

Taking a dig at the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he claimed Telangana would also have got Article 370 had Nehru, instead of Sardar Patel, handled the issue of merger of the erstwhile Hyderabad state of Nizam with the Indian Union.

"Had Jawaharlal Nehru ji taken (it up), instead of Sardar Patel, (Article) 370 would have come to Telangana also. You escaped such a massive danger 70 years ago," he said.

The then Hyderabad state merged with the Indian Union in 1948 following a police action carried out under the leadership of India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in view of the Nizams reluctance.

"It is a matter of great happiness that abrogation of Article 370 has got such a massive favourable responsive, which was unexpected, across the country and from all sections of people," Ram Madhav said.

State BJP president K Laxman said the credit for correcting a "historical blunder by the then Congress government and Nehru" goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah (with the abrogation of Article 370).