Accusing the Congress and the National Conference of fooling Kashmiris in the name of Article 370, Union Minister Jitendra Singh Sunday said these parties used the alibi of “special status” for political gains when a central law did not suit them.
 “Congress and the NCfooling the people of Kashmir in the name of Article 370 and special status.These parties used the alibi of Article 370 when a central law did not suitthem, but conveniently forgot it and promptly adopted a central law if itfetched them political gains,” he said.
Singh said these parties accuse the BJP of eroding Article370, but the fact is that for nearly half-a-century after independence, the twosame parties have ruled the state and all the provisions of the Indian constitutionwere extended to Jammu and Kashmir under their rule.
Lashing out at NC patriarch Sheikh Abdullah, Singh asked,”Why he as Chief Minister forgot Article 370 when he promptly adopted theinfamous 42nd and 43rd constitutional amendments of the emergency era to extendthe term of the state Assembly to six years, and just three years later, thesame Sheikh Abdullah used the shield of Article 370 and refused to adopt theconstitutional amendments to restore its term to five years.”
He claimed Farooq Abdullah was the first to adopt POTA, but”now he talks of reverting back to pre-1953 position and reverse all thecentral laws.”
Accusing Kashmir-centric political parties like the NC andthe PDP of being shaky at the prospect of normalcy returning to the Valley,Singh said these parties have all along benefited from the atmosphere ofmilitancy and won elections with a voter turn-out of 10 per cent.When asked about the controversy surrounding thepassage of the RTI (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, the Union minister said itis merely an enabling legislation and does not in any way interfere with theautonomy of the RTI.