BJP Slams Soz’s Call for Article 370 Restoration, Seeks Congress’ Stand

New Delhi, Jul 16 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday strongly criticised senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz over his call for the restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, terming the remarks “anti-national” and demanding that the Congress clarify whether his comments reflect the party’s official position. The BJP’s reaction came after Soz urged the ruling National Conference to expand its agitation beyond the demand for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and also press for the reinstatement of Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state before its abrogation in August 2019. Addressing reporters in Srinagar, Soz said the real issue for the people of Jammu and Kashmir was the restoration of internal autonomy. He asserted that Article 370 should be brought back and referred to the region’s accession to India, saying Jammu and Kashmir had chosen to remain with India while expecting protection of its internal autonomy. Responding to the remarks, BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi accused Soz of making statements that were against the national interest. He questioned whether the Congress endorsed the veteran leader’s views and called upon party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to clarify their position. Trivedi said if the Congress neither condemned Soz’s remarks nor initiated action against him, it would be presumed that his statement reflected the party’s official stand. Another BJP spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, also attacked the Congress, alleging that the party was advocating not only statehood for Jammu and Kashmir but also the restoration of Article 370. He claimed that such a move would weaken the application of the Constitution in the region and reverse legal and constitutional changes introduced after the abrogation of the provision. Poonawalla further alleged that restoring Article 370 would affect the implementation of laws relating to reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, as well as legislation such as the Right to Information Act. He accused the Congress of repeatedly echoing Pakistan’s narrative on Jammu and Kashmir and criticised Soz for his past statements on controversial issues. The Congress had not issued any official response to the BJP’s demand for clarification at the time of filing this report.