The BJP on Monday announced a month-long nationwide contact programme to highlight among the masses the "significance" of the Union government's decision to nullify Article 370 and Article 35A.
Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat told reporters that party leaders, including government ministers as well as its MPs and office-bearers, will hold public meetings in 35 big cities and 370 smaller towns.
They will also meet noted personalities from various fields in different parts of the country, they said.
Nine places, including four in the Kashmir valley, have been chosen in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir for the exercise, scheduled to be held between September 1-30. The towns in Kashmir chosen for the programme are Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla and Sopore.
Pradhan said the decision on revoking Article 370 was "historic" and one of the few moments in the history of independent India that united people across political and ideological divides.
Asked what was the need for the party to launch such a programme as the government's decision had received public support at large, Shekhawat said there was a need to inform the masses about the significance of the development.
Pradhan said it was not merely a sentimental decision for the party as the decision to nullify the two constitutional provisions, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was based on reason.
More than 85 developmental schemes of the central government will now be extended to the entire region, which have now been bifurcated into two union territories.
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