Early Times Report
HAMIRPUR, June 7: In a massive development, Union minister Anurag Thakur on Friday commented on the debate over Article 370 and said that since Amit Shah has taken over as the Union Home Minister, the promise to scrap the decade-old law, that grants Jammu and Kashmir a special status, will be upheld.
"If our (BJP) party president (and now Home Minister) has said that Article 370 would be scrapped from Jammu and Kashmir, it will become a reality," news agency PTI quoted the BJP MP telling reporters.
Amit Shah, during his campaign rally ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, had said that if Narendra Modi returned to power as the Prime Minister of India, Article 370 would be revoked, and Thakur, who is the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, reiterated that promise.
His remarks came just three days after the Ministry of Home Affairs said that it is considering a draft proposal to revoke the freeze on delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir.
The move, if brought into effect through a Delimitation Commission, could change the electoral DNA of the state, and enable a larger representation from Jammu just by the virtue of its size. The plan, many believe, is being done to give the Valley a Hindu chief minister. |
