The erstwhile royal family of Jammu and Kashmir has welcomed the abrogation of Article 370. Vikramaditya Singh, grandson of Raja Hari Singh, on Thursday, issued a statement saying that this is the beginning of a new era for people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Vikramaditya Singh said he fully supports the step for full integration of J&K state into the Union of India and its reorganisation.

Vikramaditya Singh, like his father Dr Karan Singh, is a Congress leader and had unsuccessfully contested the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat against Union Minister Jitendra Singh as a Congress candidate.

Going against the party line, Vikramaditya said that Jammu and Kashmir's integration in India will allow women and minorities to enjoy full rights as enshrined in the Constitution of India.

"I look forward towards a new J&K with a progressive and peaceful environment, with greater business and industrial development, private sector investment and greater employment opportunities for our youth," Vikramaditya Singh in his statement, adding that he hopes one day the region will be a state.

The royal family scion also backed his father Dr Karan Singh's statement on abrogation of Article 370.

Veteran Congress leader Dr Karan Singh has said that the government's decision on Jammu and Kashmir had several positives. In a statement the "positive points" Singh counted included the Union Territory status for Ladakh, scrapping of Article 35 A, future delimitation of constituencies as a result of the state's bifurcation into UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

However, he did not comment directly on Article 370 and also called for releasing the leaders of legitimate political parties in Jammu and Kashmir and initiate a broad-based political dialogue with them.

Karan Singh's statement comes two days after the Congress Working Committee deplored the manner in which the government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status by scrapping provisions of Article 370, and bifurcated the state.

"I personally do not agree with a blanket condemnation of these developments. There are several positive points," Karan Singh said in the statement, referring to the government decisions.

As Karan Singh broadly backed the fresh developments in the state, of which he was the first and the last Sadr-e-Riyasat, he refrained from directly opposing or backing the abrogation of provisions of Article 370, which repealed J&K's special status.

He called for a political dialogue in the Valley and said the two main parties -- Peoples Democratic Party and National Conference -- of Kashmir should not be called "anti-nationals".

In an earlier statement, Dr Karan Singh recalled his father Hari Singh's decision to sign the Instrument of Accession with India in 1947 and said, "My sole concern is the welfare of all sections of people in the state."

The statements by these Congress leaders and the erstwhile royal family that once ruled Jammu and Kashmir came after a host of party leaders went against the party's stand on J&K while welcoming the government's step in bifurcating the state and abrogating provisions of Article 370.

(With inputs from PTI)