Awantipora (Kashmir), Jan 28 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said he never thought that former party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad would become “Mir Jafar” and alleged that the BJP had planned to cut him off. Was incited to Congress votes in Jammu and Kashmir
Speaking to PTI, while embarking on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is in its final leg in Kashmir and is scheduled to end on January 31, Ramesh said the most important thing right now is to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir. Go and hold elections in Ladakh under Schedule VI of the Constitution so that it is governed by elected representatives and not by bureaucrats.
He listed All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Asaduddin Owaisi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) among others as part of BJP’s plan to split votes with Democratic Azad Party (DAP) chief and former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi. Azad is listed.
“His departure from Congress was part of Modi-Shah’s game-plan to cut votes. There are three vote-hardcores in India? Asaduddin Owaisi fielded by BJP, AAP by BJP and Azad contesting elections in J&K.” Cut Congress votes. I don’t think this is going to happen.
Asked whether Azad would dent the Congress’s prospects with his DAP, Ramesh said most of the Congress workers and leaders who had gone with Azad have returned to the party.
Asked if Azad could ever make a comeback like his newly formed party colleagues in the Congress, Ramesh said, “I don’t know what Mr. Azad’s plans are. I never in my wildest dreams thought that he would actually Will leave Congress. It is the party that recognized him for almost 50 years, gave him every possible position in the party and government including chief minister, union minister, leader of the opposition, but I never thought he would be Mir Jafar, never. ,
Mir Jafar served as the commander of the Bengal army under Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, and betrayed him during the Battle of Plassey, paving the way for British rule in India.
Admitting that he was never a close aide of Azad, the Congress general secretary said that he still “cannot match the way he went, the letter he wrote made him look low in the eyes of everybody in the Congress”. Congress has done it especially after getting all the benefits in the last 50 years.”
Asked how he sees the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and its implications, Ramesh pointed to the Congress resolution of August 6, 2019, and said the party is committed to the restoration of the democratic process, restoration of full statehood and inclusion of Ladakh. Wants to get your program. VI status in the constitution and should not be a union territory ruled by bureaucrats taking orders from New Delhi.
“So it is a long drawn process. But I want to say that one should not forget that there is Article 371 AJ in the Indian Constitution which has special provisions for Nagaland, Sikkim, Goa Arunachal Pradesh, parts of Assam In fact, Article 371 has special provisions for Gujarat, Maharashtra and parts of Karnataka. So those criticizing Article 370 should also look at Article 371,” Ramesh said.
In 2019, Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The Congress general secretary alleged that claims of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir have been “greatly exaggerated as targeted killings continue, not only in Kashmir but also in Jammu, Poonch Rajouri and J&K”.
Ramesh alleged that the figures of investment or economic boom were only “paper figures”.
“The underlying feeling of resentment, now that resentment is not just in Kashmir, that resentment is also in Jammu I discovered and also in other parts especially on matters related to land. Because the biggest fear is that you are living in Jammu. Whether it is Kashmir, lands, jobs,” he said.
Ramesh said that there should be some special provision to protect the land and job rights of the people in Jammu and Kashmir, which Article 370 did.
“The most important thing is to make J&K a full-fledged state, hold elections here and bring Ladakh under Schedule VI. The difference between Schedule VI and a UT (Union Territory) is that the elected representatives VI and manage affairs in the UT, a joint secretary in the home ministry runs the UT,” he said.
Ramesh’s comments come days after several founding members of the DAP returned to the Congress.
Azad had parted ways with the Congress last year after being associated with the party for over five decades and penned a long resignation letter criticizing the party’s top leadership.
(The above article is taken from news agency PTI. Zeenews.com has not made any editorial changes in the article. News agency PTI is solely responsible for the content of the article)