New Delhi: The Congress Saturday termed the Centre’s notification giving the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir more power over the police and the civil services a “betrayal” of the people of the Union Territory (UT) and “murder” of the Constitution of India.
In a statement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the amendments made to the Transaction of Business Rules imply that the Union government is delaying the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, which was downgraded to a UT in 2019.
Kharge added that even if Jammu and Kashmir regains the status of a full state, the amendments will effectively keep the state government at the “mercy” of the lieutenant governor. “Another example of “Samvidhan Hatya Diwas” continuing daily under Modi Govt,” he posted on X. On Friday, the Centre had declared 25 June — the date when Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency in 1975 — ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ (Murder of Constitution Day).
The notification issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs Friday significantly enhances the lieutenant governor’s control over matters relating to police, public order, the All India Services and the Anti-Corruption Bureau, much like the administrative model in Delhi, which is a UT with a legislative assembly.
In his post on X, Kharge also said the Modi government wanted to delay the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, “even though the Supreme Court has mandated Assembly Elections by Sept 30th, 2024”.
Modi Govt’s betrayal of Jammu and Kashmir continues unabated!
The insertion of new sections giving more powers to the LG by amending the Rules under Section 55 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 has only two meanings —
1) Modi Govt wants to delay the restoration of full…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 13, 2024
The Congress has been demanding the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and the holding of assembly elections. Last year, after the Supreme Court upheld the abrogation of Article 370 by the Modi government, the Congress had said that while it disagrees with the judgment on the manner in which the Centre carried out the move, the debate on the special status that the constitutional provision granted to Jammu and Kashmir was now over.
The SC has already directed the Election Commission of India to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by 30 September, 2024. In June, the commission initiated the process to hold polls in the erstwhile state.
In 2019, following the abrogation of Article 370, the downgrading of the state to a UT, and the carving out of Ladakh as a separate UT, the Congress Working Committee had in a resolution strongly criticised the Centre’s decision, saying, “Article 370 deserved to be honoured until it was amended strictly in accordance with the Constitution of India.”
On Saturday, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh also stated that the MHA notification was an indication that “full-fledged statehood for J&K does not seem likely in the immediate future.”
The Supreme Court had mandated that elections to the J&K Assembly should be held by Sept 30th, 2024.
The self-anointed non-biological PM is on record saying that full-fledged statehood would be restored to J&K, which had been reduced to a Union Territory in August 2019.
Last… pic.twitter.com/q8qHbThgFo
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 13, 2024
“The self-anointed non-biological PM is on record saying that full-fledged statehood would be restored to J&K, which had been reduced to a Union Territory in August 2019…There has been a consensus across political parties that J&K must immediately become a full-fledged state of the Indian Union once again, and not remain as a UT,” Ramesh posted on X.
(Edited by Rohan Manoj)