BJP’s Pathania defends Article 370 abrogation in Assembly

Srinagar, Feb 10: Senior BJP leader R S Pathania on Tuesday defended abrogation of Article 370 during a debate on the budget in J&K Assembly.

Participating in the debate, Pathania said that abrogation of Article 370 stands validated by the Supreme Court of India.

Speaking on the budget,  Pathania said it was not merely a “compact of numbers” but a reflection of the government’s vision, priorities and its economic relationship with the people.

Pathania, while referring to historical perspectives on democracy and fiscal policy, said that financial planning was intrinsically linked to peace, social harmony and long-term stability.

Pathania also referred to repeated mentions of Article 370 by legislators during the debate and said the provision had been wrongly portrayed as permanent despite being clearly titled as a “Temporary Provision” in the Constitution.

“It remained temporary for 70 years. The Supreme Court had devoted an entire chapter of its recent judgment to Article 370, conclusively settling the matter," he said.

Pathania said that the verdict was delivered by a Constitution Bench of the apex court, "far above a routine judgment."

Pathania further said that all executive, legislative and judicial authorities were bound by Supreme Court decisions and questioned whether anyone in the House was attempting to overreach the apex court.

He further quoted former Congress stalwarts who had described Article 370 in Parliament in 1963 as “a shell, emptied of its contents.

He said that Jawaharlal Nehru had stated that Article 370 had been eroded and that J&K stood fully integrated with India.

He also referred to similar views expressed by other leaders saying that what previous governments could not do had now been accomplished.

Pathania also addressed concerns over Jammu and Kashmir’s economic contribution and central assistance.

He said the J&K UT accounts for nearly one per cent of the country’s population and contributes about 0.87 per cent to the national GDP, while receiving around 2.21 per cent of national expenditure.

“On centrally sponsored schemes and central assistance, Jammu and Kashmir is getting more than Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

He dared the treasury benches to counter his claims with facts and said that the House should not be misled on matters of law and finance.

Meanwhile, the House witnessed uproar during his speech on the Budget. He was interrupted by Congress MLA Nizam U din Bhat on quoting congress stalwarts on their remarks regarding Article 370. Duo witnessed a heated argument in the House.

"You are a senior member but still you are interrupting me. Did I interrupt you when you spoke in the House? Will you judge me?" Pathnia asked Bhat and continued his speech.

Earlier the House witnessed uproar as the BJP MLA talked about the issues related to mining. The remarks infuriated Dy CM Surinder Choudhary and other members from treasury benches.

From the opposition side, all the members stood against NC MLAs, resulting in noisy scenes in the House.

Amid the din, there was an exchange of unparliamentary language from both the sides following which the minister for education Sakina Itoo sought an apology from BJP members for using Unparliamentary  words against the Deputy Chief Minister in the House.