Accusing the Congress of protesting against the withdrawal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, a BJP lawmaker in UP has said Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are considered "role models" in Pakistan. Anand Swarup Shukla, Minister of State for Parliament Affairs in the Uttar Pradesh government, said the posters of the two leaders adorn the walls in Pakistan. "The Congress is pro-Pakistan and its ideology is divisive. Rahul and Priyanka are considered role models in Pakistan. The Congress stands with 'tukde tukde' gang and protests withdrawal of Article 370," PTI quoted him as saying on Sunday. Attacking Priyanka Gandhi, he alleged, "Her husband has grabbed land of the poor. She has no rights to talk on corruption. She should talk about her brother Rahul and mother Sonia Gandhi, who are on bail in the National Herald case." He also called Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav as irrelevant to the state politics. "He has become irrelevant in politics and is a future Ajit Singh (RLD chief) of the state," he said. The Congress, which had opposed the stripping of Article 370 in the Parliament, has softened its position on the removal of J&K’s special status. In October, senior leader and former prime minister Manmohan Singh had said the “party had voted in favour of the dilution of Article 370 in Parliament”, adding that the Congress was “opposed to the high-handed manner” in which it was done. While the statutory resolution to amend Article 370 was passed by a voice vote in Rajya Sabha on August 5 with little opposition, there was division in Lok Sabha the next day and the Congress had voted against the resolution — contrary to what Singh said. The special status of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked under Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5 this year. The state was then bifurcated into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh - which officially came into existence on October 31.
