Srinagar, Nov 17 (KNO): National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the abrogation of Article 370 as a political tool to weaken the Congress and secure electoral victories in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, stating that national conference will remain with the Congress party come what may.<\/p>\n
According to the news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO) speaking to reporters in Jammu after attending a private function, Abdullah expressed confidence in the strength of the opposition INDIA alliance and its prospects in the upcoming elections in the two states.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe BJP is targeting Article 370 to attack the Congress and strengthen its position in elections. But we will not allow the Congress to be weakened. I am hopeful that the INDIA alliance will emerge victorious in Maharashtra and Jharkhand,\u201d Abdullah said.<\/p>\n
Abdullah reiterated his belief that Jammu and Kashmir would regain its statehood. Addressing skepticism around the timeline for this restoration, he said, \u201cStatehood will be restored; I have no doubt about it. Some people earlier claimed there would be no elections in Jammu and Kashmir, but elections were held. Similarly, statehood will be returned.\u201d<\/p>\n
His statement comes amidst ongoing demands from various political quarters for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, a status it lost in August 2019 when the BJP-led central government revoked Article 370 and reorganized the region into two Union Territories.<\/p>\n
When asked about Congress leaders\u2019 comments regarding the absence of a reference to Article 370\u2019s restoration in the party\u2019s recent resolution in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah defended the Congress, citing political pressures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Congress has its own motives in this regard. They are being attacked relentlessly by the BJP, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah leading the charge. This targeting is part of their election strategy,\u201d Abdullah stated.<\/p>\n
He dismissed concerns about divisions within the opposition, reiterating the resolve of the INDIA alliance to stand united against the BJP\u2019s tactics.<\/p>\n
Abdullah also responded sharply to Union Home Minister Amit Shah\u2019s remarks on proposed changes to the Waqf Act. \u201cHe is acting like the owner of India, as if he is the king who can do anything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On the BJP’s slogan \u2018Batenge toh katnge\u2019 (If divided, we will be cut apart), Abdullah criticized its divisive undertone. \u201cWhat does this slogan even mean? Are we not one nation? India thrives on unity in diversity. Strengthening this diversity is what makes our country strong,\u201d he said\u2014(KNO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar, Nov 17 (KNO): National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the abrogation of Article 370 as a political tool to weaken the Congress and secure electoral victories in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, stating that national conference will remain with the Congress party come what may. According to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kashmir"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83550,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83548\/revisions\/83550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}