Article 370 will be reinstated in J&K; Mehbooba Mufti on G N Azad’s ‘Cannot Be Restored’ remark

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday reacted to Ghulam Nabi Azad’s ‘Article 370 cannot be restored’ remark and said it was his personal opinion. The PDP leader went on to say that ‘there are voices in Jammu and Kashmir who believe Article 370 will be reinstated.’ “It’s his (Ghulam Nabi Azad) personal opinion…Congress had raised its voice against the British and stopped them. Similarly, there are voices in J&K who believe 370 will be reinstated and this will be resolved,” Mufti said.

Notably, former Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad, during a rally in Kashmir’s Baramulla yesterday, Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “To restore Article 370 would need around 350 votes in the Lok Sabha and 175 votes in the Rajya Sabha. This is a number no political party has or is likely to ever get.”

Azad, who ended his five-decade-long association with the Congress on August 26, said if the grand old party is speaking to restore Article 370, those are false promises. “The Congress has shrunken to less than 50 seats and if they speak of restoring Article 370, they are making false promises,” said the 73-year-old politician.

“Some people have blamed me for voting in favour of the Article 370 abrogation motion brought in by the home minister. I have voted against the abrogation and these people who have no idea about the working of Parliament are saying that I voted against Article 370,” Azad said further.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, who announced earlier that he will be forming his own party after parting ways from Congress, noted in yesterday’s rally that he will announce the formation of his new political party within 10 days. “I thank my colleagues who stand with me and are the base of my new party which, God willing, will be announced within the next 10 days,” he said.