Intervening in the debate on J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill and J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Shah said the concept of “one flag, one prime minister, one Constitution” is not a political slogan and BJP firmly believes in the principle and finally implemented it with regard to Jammu and Kashmir.
His intervention came over the remark by TMC‘s Saugata Roy that “one nation, one PM, one flag” is a mere political slogan of BJP. Shah wondered as to how a country can have two prime ministers, two constitutions and two flags. “Whosoever did it was wrong. Narendra Modi has corrected it. Your approval or disagreement do not matter. The entire country wanted it,” he said.
The government also told the House that it is ready to hold elections in J&K anytime and it is for the Election Commission to announce a date, when ever it feels appropriate. Jitendra Singh, junior minister in PMO, said: “We are ready for elections, but you have to ask the EC for it as it is an independent constitutional body and only it can decide when to hold polls.”
Congress questioned the timing of introducing the amendments in the bills and its legal sanctity when the issue of abrogation of Article 370 is still pending before a Constitution Bench of the SC.
Members of Congress, NCP, TMC and National Conference questioned the Centre’s claims on normalcy in J&K and cited continued killings in the Kashmir valley and attacks on the security forces.
BJP members countered the charges, quoting record tourist footfalls even in remote parts of Kashmir as a testament of peace. I&B minister said stone-throwing incidents are history as he contrasted the killings of hundreds during the rule of ‘two families’.
National Conference’s Hasnain Masoodi asked why didn’t the government conduct elections if the situation in J&K is peaceful. He also said there was no attempt to restore statehood as promised by the government. NC patron Farooq Abdullah said the party had sacrificed the most in keeping the state within the Union. “I was the CM, and I wanted a unified command to fight militants which played a great role in what you find in Kashmir today,” he added.