Rajnath Singh in Pataudi on Sunday. (PTI) Rajnath Singh in Pataudi on Sunday. (PTI)

DEFENCE MINISTER Rajnath Singh Sunday said the BJP-led NDA government had planned to move on Article 370 in its previous term but did not proceed due to “some reasons” and “an incident”.

Singh, however, did not elaborate on the “reasons” or the “incident” while addressing two rallies at Assandh in Karnal and Pataudi in Gurgaon in the run-up to the Haryana Assembly election on October 21.

Sources said the incident was the Pulwama terror attack on February 14, when 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

On August 5, the government announced in Parliament that it had taken the decision to remove special status to J&K under Article 370 and split the state into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.

Speaking in Karnal, Singh referred to Article 370 and asked how one country could have two Constitutions. “…Jab bhi koi chunav ka avsar aata tha, hum log yeh kehte the ki yadi humko spasht bahumat Sansad mein mil gaya toh hum Article 370 ko samaapt karenge. Is baar bhi hum logon ne… Logon ne kaha arrey sahab pichli baar bhi toh aapko bahumat mila tha, Article 370 kyon nahi samaapt kiya aapne? Hone hi waala tha, lekin kuch kaaran the. Lekin, jab aapne dobara avsar diya… toh joh humne kaha tha, use karke aapko dikha diya.”

(“Whenever elections were conducted, we used to say that if we get absolute majority in Parliament, we will end Article 370. Even this time, we… then people said you had got absolute majority last time, but why didn’t you scrap Article 370? It was about to happen, but there were some reasons. But when you gave us a second chance, we did what we had said we would.”)

Hours later, speaking in Pataudi, Singh referred to Article 370 A and 35-A and said: “Aap kahenge pichli saal kyun nahi kiya. Tayyari ho gayi thi. Ek ghatna ho gayi. PM ne mann pucca bana liya. Aur aapne dekha, is baar 2019 ka chunav hua, Sansad ke gathith hone ke baad, pehla satr jo hua toh J&K ki Article 370 and 35-A ko chutki bajaate hue samaapt kar diya.”

(“You would say why didn’t we do it last time. Preparations were done. An incident happened. The Prime Minister made up his mind. And you saw, this time the 2019 elections happened, and as soon as the first session of Parliament was held, we ended J&K’s Article 370 and 35-A with the snap of a finger.”)

At both the rallies, Singh also lashed out at Pakistan and said that he feels the “Partition of India in 1947 was not correct”. He pointed out that although the two-nation theory was propagated, which led to Partition and the creation of Pakistan, by 1971 Pakistan got divided into two and Bangladesh was created. Singh warned that if Pakistan does not change its “way of thinking”, nobody in the world can stop it from further divisions.

Referring to last week’s induction of the first Rafale fighter jet into the IAF, Singh said that India was “increasing its strength for self-protection”.

Referring to cross-border terrorism, Singh said Pakistan can seek India’s help if it is “unable to combat terrorism on its own but has the intention to do so”.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.