The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said it has decided not to tamper with or challenge any of the constitutional provisions of the state, including Article 35-A and Article 370, till its alliance with PDP remains intact.
“I can tell you with full authority that BJP is not interested in challenging or tampering with any of the constitutional provisions of J&K, be it Article 35-A or Article 370,” BJP’s chief spokesman for J&K, Sunil Sethi told Kashmir Post over phone from New Delhi.
He said though BJP’s ideological stand is that Article 370 should go and that Article 35-A has “done a lot of damage” to J&K, “we are not planning to alter Article 35-A or Article 370 as we stand by the Agenda of Alliance.”
“Till AoA is alive, we are not going to tinker with any of the J&K’s constitutional positions,” Sethi said.
Sethi said: “See, we can’t influence courts or individuals. BJP has nothing to do with the NGO that has filed the anti-Article 35A petition.”
He said the J&K government has filed an affidavit challenging the claims made by the NGO.
“The government has taken a decision that Article 35-A can’t be revoked. J&K government doesn’t mean PDP only, BJP is also part of the government,” he said.
“Let NC and Congress approach the Supreme Court and file an application against the NGO. If these parties believe that the SC can announce a verdict against 35-A, let them become a party to the case and fight it out there,” Sethi said.
