Article 370: Voices of dissent within Congress
New Delhi: A number of Congress leaders across the country have gone against the party's stand in Parliament on abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir by supporting the Centre's move and a bill to bifurcate the state.
The Congress has strongly opposed the move and the bill to bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories.
Going against the party's stand, senior Congress leaders Janardan Dwivedi, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Deepender Hooda have voiced support to the move.
In an embarrassment to the Congress, another leader Anil Shastri said the grand old party should sense the mood of the people before taking a stand, noting that they were with the government on this.
Dwivedi welcomed the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, saying even though it came late, a historical mistake had been corrected.
Scindia said he supported the move on Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the state's full integration into the Union of India, adding that it was in the interest of the country.
"I support the move on #JammuAndKashmir & #Ladakh and its full integration into union of India.
"Would have been better if constitutional process had been followed. No questions could have been raised then. Nevertheless, this is in our country's interest and I support this," he said on Twitter.
Shastri also said on Twitter, "Congress must sense the mood of the people and then take a stand. The people are totally with the government on this issue. We opposed Mandal and lost UP and Bihar and should not risk now of losing India."
Hooda contended that the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir "is in the interest of national integrity". Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora said it was "very unfortunate" that Article 370 was being converted into a "liberal vs conservative debate".
"Parties should put aside ideological fixations & debate what's best for India's sovereignty and federalism, peace in J&K, jobs for Kashmiri youth and justice for Kashmiri Pandits," he said in a tweet.
"Abolishing Article 370 of the Indian Constitution could well be dubbed Modi Sarkar 2.0's demonetisation moment.
"For the sake of peace and development in Jammu & Kashmir, I hope this decision plays out more favourably than demonetisation did," Deora noted.
Dwivedi said it was a matter of national satisfaction that a "mistake" made at the time of Independence was corrected.
He added that after Independence, many freedom fighters did not want Article 370 to remain in place and cited the example of Ram Manohar Lohia, under whom he had his political training and who was against Article 370.
"This is a matter of satisfaction for the nation. This historical mistake that happened at the time of Independence has been rectified today, even though late, and is welcomed," Dwivedi told PTI, while clarifying that his opinion was personal and he was not putting forward his party's view.
Congress's chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Bhubaneshwar Kalita quit his membership in the Upper House of Parliament over the issue after the party asked him to issue a whip to all members for opposing the bill.
Hooda said, "I have always maintained that Article 370 should be scrapped. It has no place in the 21st century. Abrogation of this Article is in the interest of national integrity and the people of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India. However, the onus of peaceful implementation of this transition in a trustworthy environment lies on the incumbent government."
Congress MLA from Rae Bareli Aditi Singh also said on Twitter, "United we stand! Jai Hind. #Article370." When someone reminded her that she was a Congress leader, Singh replied back, saying, "Main ek Hindustani hoon (I am an Indian)."
She termed it a historic decision and urged people not to politicise it. Singh's Assembly segment -- Rae Bareli Sadar -- is a part of UPA chairperson and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency.
Meanwhile, sources said the top Congress leadership was learnt to be peeved at the comments of the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, questioning whether Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter as it was being monitored by the United Nations.
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Rahul Gandhi has tea with 'dead' voters from Bihar, thanks EC for experience
New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he had a unique experience of having tea with some "dead" voters from Bihar and thanked the Election Commission for it.
A group of seven voters from Bihar met the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha at his residence and shared their experience of how they were declared "dead" by the EC and their names removed from the electoral rolls.
"There have been many interesting experiences in life, but I never got the chance to have tea with 'dead people'. For this unique experience, thank you Election Commission!" Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
He also shared a video of his meeting with the "dead" voters. In it, Gandhi is heard telling them to move around and see Delhi as the "dead" cannot even be charged tickets.
In the video, some of them told Gandhi that they came to know that they were "declared dead" by the EC during the special intensive revision (SIR), and were among the 65 lakh voters whose names have been removed from the electoral rolls of poll-bound Bihar.
The group also told Gandhi that they appeared before the Supreme Court on Wednesday to get their voting rights back. The apex court is hearing petitions against the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
In a statement, the party later said that seven voters from Bihar, all very much alive, shared tea with Rahul Gandhi today, even as the Election Commission's SIR list had them as "dead".
Ramikbal Ray, Harendra Ray, Lalmuni Devi, Vachiya Devi, Lalwati Devi, Punam Kumari, and Munna Kumar all belong to Tejashwi Yadav's constituency, Raghopur.
"They have been removed from the electoral rolls despite having completed the requisite paperwork for the SIR.
"The Election Commission has not openly published lists of the people whom it has declared dead, migrated, etc. Our teams on the ground were able to identify these people only because they managed to informally get EC's internal report in two to three polling booths," the Congress said.
These seven represent only a fraction of "unjustly" deleted voters in two to three polling booths in the constituency, it added.
"This is not a clerical error — it is political disenfranchisement in plain sight.
"After 'Vote Chori' was exposed in Bengaluru, it is clear that the Bihar SIR exercise is also compromised. When the living are struck off as dead, the death certificate is issued to democracy itself," the Congress said.
