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Updated: Jun 10, 2020 21:57 IST

Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter on Tuesday to attack the Union government over the abrogation of Article 370 that gave special powers to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. He said the Centre’s move was “abuse of executive power” and could have “grave implications”.

“National integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution. This nation is made by its people, not plots of land. This abuse of executive power has grave implications for our national security,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Kashmir’s mainstream political leaders have been jailed at secret locations.



This is unconstitutional & undemocratic.



It’s also short sighted and foolish because it will allow terrorists to fill the leadership vaccum created by GOI.



The imprisoned leaders must be released. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 6, 2019

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The central government on Monday scrapped Article 370 and Article 35A which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In Rajya Sabha on Monday, the government introduced a resolution to scrap Article 370 and bill bifurcate the state into two union territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The resolution and the bill were passed by the upper house.

The BJP-led NDA government got support from opposition parties like BSP, BJD, TRS, AAP and AIADMK for its move to scrap Article 370 but ally JD(U) struck a different tone.

The resolutions were tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday by home minister Amit Shah. They are expected to sail through in the lower house of Indian Parliament where the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has a comfortable majority.

Article 370 scrapped I Why opposition may find it tough to slam the move

The Congress seemed like it didn’t have a clear strategy on the Article 370 issue with party leaders speaking in different voices.

The party’s chief whip in Rajya Sabha, Bhubaneswar Kalita resigned after taking a different stand. Kalita in a letter said the Congress leadership had asked him to issue a whip but he felt that it was “against the nation’s sentiments”.

Senior Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi backed the central government and said that Article 370 was a “mistake of history” which had been corrected. Former MP Deepender Hooda tweeted: “My personal view is that there isn’t a need to have Article 370 in the 21st century.”

A meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, has been called on Tuesday evening to firm up its stand on the abrogation of Article 370.

Another Congress leader Milind Deora said that it was unfortunate that Article 370 is being converted into a liberal vs conservative debate. “Parties should put aside ideological fixations & debate what’s best for India’s sovereignty & federalism, peace in J&K, jobs for Kashmiri youth & justice for Kashmiri Pandits,” he tweeted.