Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal courted controversy after he claimed that India's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was ready to give Kashmir to Pakistan. Sibal was speaking in the Rajya Sabha on the government's proposed move to repeal Article 370.
"Sardar Patel sahab was home minister then. He brought Article 370. At that time it was discussed that Sardar Patel was ready to give Kashmir to Pakistan," Sibal said in the upper house.
He further said: “Junagarh king was a Muslim and wanted to go to Pakistan, but Kashmir ruler was Hindu and he wanted to come to India and because of Jawahar Lal Nehru, Kashmir became a part of India.”
Sibal asked the government why various stakeholders were not consulted before bringing the bill to revoke Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two Union territories (UTs).
Members from the treasury benches objected to Sibal's remarks, with BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav stating that Sibal's views cannot be the view of the House.
Earlier, the government revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and proposed that the state be bifurcated into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the decision in the Rajya Sabha, fulfilling the electoral promise of the BJP. While it sent a wave of jubilation among government supporters and others, it also provoked outrage from the NC and the PDP, the principal political parties in Jammu and Kashmir.q