SRINAGAR: Insisting that no party in India can ever undo what the parliament did on August 5, 2019, by reading down the Article 370, BJP minister Dr Jitendra Singh suggested the three Kashmir MPs to resign if they do approve of the Lok Sabha decision. He said no political party in India can afford to reverse the decision of Lok Sabha.

“If they (NC and Congress leaders) do not approve of the Parliament having passed the Bill to abrogate Article 370, then in the interest of parliamentary propriety, they should resign from their membership of Parliament,” Singh was quoted saying in Jammu where he addressed the party workers. He suggested the party workers not to get defensive when the opposition talks about abrogation of Article 370. “We have the facts, figures and confidence to defend the newly enacted land laws as well as the other legislations enacted” in Jammu and Kashmir.

Singh, who has been in the PMO ever since he was elected to the Lok Sabha in the first term, accused National Conference of abusing Jammu and Kashmir’s last Maharaja, Hari Singh by invoking his name for their requirement in Jammu. He has termed it as their “trick”. The minister has termed invoking Maharaja’s state subject laws to counter the pre-August 2019 permanent resident system as “blasphemous”, asserting the 1927 laws were “quite porous” and were subsequently changed and made harsh by Sheikh Abdullah. He has also said that Hari Singh had signed the same instrument of accession as was signed by other states and whatever NC is saying is incorrect.

However, he has said the statehood will be restored as was promised by Home Minister Amit Shah. He said the NC and PDP are reviving their autonomy and self rule bogies when they are out of power. He asked: “Why Farooq Abdullah did not resign as Chief Minister when Prime Minister Vajpayee rejected his autonomy resolution?” Instead, he added: “His son also continued as a junior minister in the Vajpayee government.”

Dr Singh later told a presser that the people’s right to sell properties and houses haven’t been usurped by anyone. “Whoever says J&K is on sale, you should tell him that the sale of J&K will start with Gupkar bungalows,” Dr Singh was quoted saying by Outlook. “The law doesn’t allow occupying a bungalow forcibly. The owners still enjoy the right to decide whether to sell it or not. The day the order to occupy houses comes, beautiful houses along Dal Lake will be occupied.”

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