'Cat Out Of The Bag': BJP Slams Congress-NC Alliance In J&K After Pakistan Minister's Article 370 Rant

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday slammed the Congress-National Conference alliance for their remarks on restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir after the Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif backed the allies over their stance on J&K’s special status.

The controversy erupted after Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif during an interview with Geo News said that the Shehbaz Sharif government and the Congress-National Conference alliance are on the “same page” on the issue of restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Pakistan and the National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu and Kashmir to restore Article 370,” Asif said during the interview. He also added that there is a “high chance” that the Congress-National Conference alliance would win the Assembly polls and come to power in the Union Territory.

The remarks of the Pakistani minister came in the midst of Assembly elections in J&K, the first since the erstwhile state’s special status was scrapped in 2019. Notably, Asif’s comments were made in response to the Congress and National Conference alliance in the Jammu and Kashmir polls, the results for which will be out on October 8.

Responding to reports about the Pakistani Defence Minister’s comment on Article 370 and the NC-Congress alliance, NC chief and former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah said: “I have no control over what Pakistan says. I am not a Pakistani. I am an Indian citizen.”

BJP Slams Congress-NC Alliance

Attacking the alliance, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “Pakistan’s Defence Minister’s statement about Congress and JKNC’s support on Article 370 and 35A has once again exposed Congress. This statement has once again made it clear that Congress and Pakistan have the same intentions and agenda. For the last few years, Rahul Gandhi has been standing with every anti-India force, hurting the sentiments of the countrymen.”

“Be it asking for proof of air strikes and surgical strikes or saying objectionable things about the Indian Army, the tune of Rahul Gandhi’s Congress Party and Pakistan has always been the same and Congress has always been hand in glove with the anti-national forces. But, Congress Party and Pakistan forget that there is Modi Government at the center, hence neither Article 370 nor terrorism is going to come back in Kashmir,” he added.

Slamming the alliance, the BJP accused the Congress and National Conference of standing with Pakistan and questioned why “Rahul Gandhi and his Congress, are always seen on the side of those inimical to India’s interest”.

Taking to X, BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya wrote, “Pakistan, a terrorist state, endorses Congress and National Conference’s position on Kashmir. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, on Hamid Mir’s Capital Talk on Geo News says, ‘Pakistan and National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu & Kashmir to restore Article 370 and 35A’. How is it that, from Pannun to Pakistan, Rahul Gandhi and his Congress, are always seen on the side of those inimical to India’s interest?”

Exemplifying the instances of surgical strike, Balakote and Pulwama, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, “Today the cat is out of the bag for Modi Virodh, they can even stand with Pakistan.”

“Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Hamid Mir’s Capital Talk on Geo News says, ‘Pakistan and National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu & Kashmir to restore Article 370 and 35A’ Was there ever any doubt? Today the cat is out of the bag For Modi Virodh they can even stand with Pakistan,” the BJP leader said in a post on X.

NC on Restoration of Article 370

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections again brought a spotlight on the issue of Article 370 with the Opposition parties demanding its restoration. Earlier, Farooq Abdullah said, “How many years BJP take to abrogate it (Article 370)? By God’s will, we will also restore it. It is the heartbeat of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 and 35 A will be restored.”

Former CM Omar Abdullah also expressed hope about the return of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. “Nothing is impossible. If today a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court has announced a verdict against Article 370, then isn’t it possible that tomorrow a seven-judge Constitution bench will give a verdict in favour of Article 370,” Omar had said

Row Over Restoration Of Article 370

On August 5, 2019, the government announced in Parliament the nullification of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir with an Assembly and Ladakh without one.

The government back then said J&K’s statehood would be restored at an appropriate time, an assertion that has been made by government ministers time and again since then. Recently, at a rally in J&K, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stressed that the government was committed to restoring J&K statehood after the elections.