Rahul Gandhi calls Article 370's removal as 'abuse of executive power'

Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: After all the opposition parties condemned the removal of Article 370, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the BJP-led government's move an "abuse of executive power". He also said that the party's decision "has grave implications for national security."

Gandhi has vehemently opposed the Centre's action in the Parliament. His comment is the first one from the Gandhi family to have reacted.

He also called the preventive arrests of former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti Gandhi as a violation of our constitution. Gandhi said, "National integration isn't furthered by unilaterally tearing apart Jammu and Kashmir, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution."

In a tweet, Gandhi, who has publically announced his resignation from the post of Congress president, said, "This nation is made by its people, not plots of land. This abuse of executive power has grave implications for our national security."

Along with opposition parties, Congress has been opposing the government's announcement to scrap Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Centre on Monday scrapped the Article of the Constitution that conferred special status to Jammu and Kashmir and barred people from the rest of the country from buying property there.

The abrogation of Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir, which was Centre's proposal at the parliament, has resulted in splitting the state into two union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. With Jammu and Kashmir being a union territory with a legislature and Ladakh being one without a legislature, culminating into 9 union territories in the country.

Centre's proposal came hard on heels on the buildup of troops in the valley and sudden cancellation of the Amarnath yatra. A ‘terror threat' was issued following shut down of internet and mobile communications services in the state.

Prominent leaders were also put under house arrest that threw Jammu and Kashmir off the edge. Curfew was imposed and locals were forced to remain indoors as the proposal was being reviewed and discussed upon in the Parliament.

With inputs from ANI, PTI

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