Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the historic decision of scrapping the constitutional provision that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
"A historic mistake has been corrected by this historic and extremely bold decision. Now the status of a special state given to Jammu and Kashmir has ceased and Kashmir has become an integral part of India just like any other state. The integration of Kashmir into India has been completed," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved a resolution in Rajya Sabha to abolish Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, after the president issued a notification, and introduced a Bill to divide the state into two Union Territories— Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The Rajya Sabha approved both the resolution and the the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019. Both will now come up in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Retired General Lieutenant General D B Shekatkar (retd) too, said the move was long overdue. Among others who supported Modi and Shah's move are former Union home secretary Madhav Godbole and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
While Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi said a "historical mistake" has been corrected by the government, his party colleague Deepender Hooda contended that the abrogation of Article 370 "is in the interest of national integrity".
Dwivedi said it is a matter of national satisfaction that a "mistake" done at the time of Independence has been corrected.
"It is a very old issue. After Independence, many freedom fighters did not want Article 370 to remain. I had my political training under Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, who was against this Article. Personally, this is an issue of a matter of satisfaction for the nation.”
Speaking about the article 370 move, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said he welcomes any move that strengthens country's integrity, but the decision in a democracy must be made by consensus, not by force.
BJP MP Vijay Goel on Monday said scrapping of Article 370 was a "very bold decision" and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "India's another Shivaji Maharaj" who is fighting a continued battle against terrorism and corruption.
The former Union minister said the decision to repeal the constitutional provision giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir was a "real tribute" to Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
DMK condemns the move
DMK president M K Stalin said the measures should be held back till a democratically-elected government assumed office in the state. The DMK strongly condemned Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah's move to scrap article 370 and said that it was “murder of democracy.”
Several Kashmiri Pandits living in Madhya Pradesh after being driven out of the northern state in the late 1980s on Monday hailed the Centre's decision to scrap Article 370.
Most of them came to MP after their homes were destroyed in the violence that took place against the community in J-K in 1989.
"I can't tell you how happy I am. All the things that happened in 1989 flashed across my eyes as I heard the news of Article 370 being abolished," said Maya Kaul, mother of actor Manav Kaul.
