Former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today said that he used to be afraid of stepping out in Kashmir during his stint as a minister. He was speaking at the launch of his memoir, ‘Five Decades of Politics’. Present at the launch was Shinde’s successor in the home ministry, Rajnath Singh. “Though people thought that I was a daredevil, the visits to Lal Chowk and Dal Lake at Srinagar, I used to feel frightened during the jamboree,” Shinde said in a lighter vein.
BJP’s Response: A Period after Article 370 Era
The BJP hit back sharply at Shinde. Union Minister Bhupender Yadav sent off the experience of Shinde by contrasting those days with changes in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. Yadav said tourism had increased manifold now, with “2-3 crore tourists visiting the region yearly,” as he underlined how abrogation of Article 370 strengthened democracy, reduced corruption, and eased the lives of Kashmiris.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, too, jumped into the fray, reminding one and all that Rahul Gandhi was recently seen confidently undertaking the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kashmir, an area which till a few years back used to be a hotbed of violence. Poonawalla lashed out at the Congress and National Conference, accusing them of wanting to take Jammu and Kashmir “back to the days of terror.”
Article 370: Political Standoff
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The abrogation of Article 370, granting Jammu and Kashmir special autonomy, has remained controversial. BJP is on record to say that its revocation has reduced militancy and sparked growth, while the Congress and National Conference branded this as a betrayal of the people. This is what they promised to undo in their election campaigns for the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Article 370 granted a special self-government status to Jammu and Kashmir and a degree of autonomy on all matters except defense and foreign affairs until the abrogation by the Modi-led government on August 5, 2019. The state has been dissolved into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
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