SRINAGAR: Sangeeta Jaitley, wife of late Arun Jaitley, who was the Finance Minister in the Modi government from 2014-2019, has broken her silence with a historical disclosure that the Bill for the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35 A was drafted by her husband after he was assigned to do so by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reported The Tribune.

“Prime Minister had told Arun (Jaitley) to draft such a Bill for the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35 A that could withstand any legal scrutiny even if it is challenged in the Supreme Court,” Sangeeta disclosed in a video clip of four and half minutes that was uploaded to congratulate the people on the first anniversary of August 5 when these provisions were scrapped from the Indian Constitution.

According to report, Sangeeta was born into the best-known political family of Jammu — her father Girdhari Lal Dogra was the longest-serving Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. She married Arun Jaitley in May 1982.

After making the revelation that her husband drafted the Bill, Sangeeta says, it was implemented by Amit Shah in most effective manner. “It all happened under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” The Tribune quoted Sangeeta as having said.

Her video coincided with the first anniversary of August 5 when the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was done away with and the state bifurcated into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.

Narrating the sequence of events, Sangeeta said certain days before the Bill was to be moved, “I found Arun ji engrossed in reading the J&K constitution (J&K had its own constitution by virtue of Article 370 ) and asked him why, he being such a renowned lawyer, is reading the J&K constitution time and again. To my question, he replied Article 370 has to be abrogated”.

She disclosed that there was a meeting between the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Arun Jaitley where it was decided to abrogate Article 370 with a legally sound draft of the Bill, and that was what Arun did.

Expressing her satisfaction over the post-August 5 developments, Sangeeta said Jammu and Kashmir had found doors opened for an all-round progress. Jammu had become an educational hub. The investments had started flowing into J&K and Ladakh and the local industry had started flourishing.

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