Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday broke her silence on the scrapping of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir by saying “the manner in which this has been done is completely unconstitutional.”
Ms. Vadra, who was talking to reporters in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, said the NDA government’s moves in Jammu and Kashmir were “against all principles of democracy.”
“There are rules to be followed when such things are done. They have not been followed,” she alleged. “The Congress party has always fought for the Constitution and democracy. We will continue to fight. This is a very clear view of the party,” she said.
Ms. Vadra downplayed the differing statements issued by Congress leaders on the issue. Many party leaders had broken ranks to support the Narendra Modi government's decision.
Referring to fellow Congress leader and former MP Jyotiraditya Scindia welcoming the scrapping of the special status to J&K, Ms. Vadra said Mr. Scindia “is also in the CWC [Congress Working Committee] and signed the statement.” She added, “All are in agreement.”
Ms Vadra said the party had a “clear opinion” on the issue in its CWC and that there were no differing views. Unlike the BJP, in her party it was not that just one voice was heard while others were suppressed. An opinion was formulated after hearing all the voices and a discussion, she said.
Ms. Vadra was in Umbha village in Sonbhadra where she met the kin of the bloody incident last month in which 11 persons were killed over a long-standing land dispute. The Yogi Adityanath government had prevented her from visiting the affected village and detained her in Mirzapur, following which Ms. Vadra vowed to visit the affected tribal people.
Ms. Vadra appealed to the State government to withdraw the “80-90 false cases” lodged against ‘innocent’ locals in land dispute. Some women had even been booked under the Goonda Act, she told reporters.
