#Article370Scrapped: Yashwant Sinha feels BJP can break Rajiv Gandhi's record
If elections were held today, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could easily break late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's electoral record, feels former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha. Sinha, a former BJP member and staunch critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said on Monday that Centre's decision to rip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status by repealing Article 370 is a populist move. Here's more.
Context: J&K won't enjoy autonomy anymore, Shah made historic announcement
Union Home Minister Amit Shah made a historic announcement from floor of Rajya Sabha. He said Article 370 will be repealed, meaning the northernmost state will function as per Indian constitution. Shah also said J&K will be bifurcated into two union territories- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Notably, the J&K Reorganisation Bill was passed in RS on Monday and will be tabled in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Sinha called it a mere political move
Naturally, the Centre's decision evoked reactions from across the spectrum. Dismissing it, Sinha said it will further alienate people of J&K. He claimed it had nothing to do with J&K and was a mere "political step", one which would boost BJP's prospects. So much so that if polls were held immediately, "BJP will beat Rajiv Gandhi's record," Sinha told NDTV.
With eye on polls, BJP repealed Article 370, opined Sinha
"What government of India has done with Article 370, and Article 35A, is nothing more than pure politics... There are state elections coming in some very important states, and this whole thing has been done in order to be able to win elections," Sinha said.
Like DeMo, this one is also driven by politics: Sinha
To recall, when Rajiv Gandhi contested 1984 polls, which were facilitated after his mother Indira Gandhi was assassinated, he won more than 400 seats riding on sympathy. Further, Sinha drew similarities between demonetization and PM Modi's latest gamble. He said the shock note-ban in November 2016 was also a political move and had nothing to do with the economy.
Sinha underlined people of J&K weren't taken in confidence
"Demonetization was not an economic step. It was also a political step. Similarly, this is also a political step...It has nothing to do with Jammu and Kashmir, because if it had then the Jammu and Kashmir people would have been taken into confidence," Sinha said.
With big move, BJP made some new friends
After PM Modi delivered the biggest surprise/shock of his second term, he received both bouquets and brickbats. Ghulam Nabi Azad condemned BJP saying it had murdered democracy. Similarly, local J&K parties PDP and NC called it a betrayal. But parties like BSP, BJD, AIADMK, AAP, and Shiv Sena congratulated PM Modi for taking the bold step, which they felt would benefit the country.
