Amit Shah
Union home minister Amit Shah. Image credit - indianexpress.com

BJP leaders from the Northeast have applauded the Centre’s decision to scrap Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday moved a resolution in the Rajya Sabha announcing that the central government decided to scrap Article 370.

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Shah decided to move the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill proposing to bifurcate the state of Jammu & Kashmir into two union territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

He also said the government has decided that Jammu & Kashmir would be turned into a union territory with a legislature like Delhi and Puducherry and Ladakh would be turned into a union territory without a legislature like Chandigarh.

Assam finance minister and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma applauded Shah for ‘writing a historic script’ for India.

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He stated on his Twitter handle: “The extraordinary decision of PM Sri @narendramodion Article 370 demonstrates the sturdiness of @BJP4Indiacommitment to its ideology, and principles we pursue. Huge applause for HM Sri @AmitShah for writing a historic new script for #NewIndia. #BharatEKHai”.

Hailing the decision of the Centre, Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb hoped that the scrapping of the Article 370 would bring in ‘a new era of peace and good governance’.

He also claimed that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s dream of ‘Ek desh, Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan aur Ek Nishan’ came true.

Deb stated on his official Twitter handle: “Dream of Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee’s ‘Ek desh, Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan aur Ek Nishan’ came true today. Thanks to @PMOIndiaShri @narendramodiji and @HMOIndiaShri @AmitShah ji for this historic decision of revoking #Article370 from J&K.”

Meanwhile, after Shah’s announcement of scrapping of the Article 370, opposition party members created uproar.

Congress, TMC and DMK members shouted slogans and then squatted on the floor of the Upper House of the Parliament.

PDP members Nazir Ahmad Laway and Mir Mohammed Fayaz tore copies of the Constitution in a heated argument following which they were ordered to go out of the House by chairman Venkaiah Naidu.