As SC prepares to hear Article 370 pleas, a look at where major parties stand

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday expressed apprehension about the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the petitions after “remaining silent for four years”. She tweeted, “…There are legitimate apprehensions about why SC has taken up Article 370 with such alacrity after their visit to Kashmir. After remaining silent for four years the decision to hear the case on a daily basis does evoke misgivings.”

Opposition parties have held differing views on the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370. While the Congress initially condemned the move, it subsequently adopted a more cautious approach. The BJP-led government, meanwhile, found support from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Parties such as Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, now renamed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also supported the abrogation of Article 370.

While Kashmir-based parties such as the National Conference, the PDP, and the People’s Conference condemned the move every step of the way, the CPI(M) is perhaps the only national party to have hit out at it over the years.

Congress

The Congress has been ambivalent on the matter. In Parliament, the party initially opposed the Centre’s move but later nuanced its position, perhaps after sensing the public mood and factoring in the views of several leaders.

At a meeting on August 6, 2019, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) attacked the government on the manner in which the abrogation was carried out. The Congress briefly joined the Gupkar Alliance with the NC, the PDP, and the People’s Conference and was party to the joint statement issued in August 2020 that said the parties would strive for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A. It was also part of the Gupkar Declaration of August 5, 2019. But in November 2020, the grand old party declared that it was not part of the Gupkar Alliance.

Speaking on January 29, as he wrapped up his cross-country Bharat Jodo Yatra after unfurling the tricolour in Srinagar, Rahul was noncommittal on the restoration of Article 370. The political resolution that the Congress leadership discussed at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) plenary session in Raipur the following month was also silent on reinstating Article 370 if voted to power. The draft resolution said the Congress would strive to restore complete statehood for Jammu and Kashmir and bring Ladakh under the protection of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. But there was no mention of Article 370.

JD(U)

BJP’s former ally Janata Dal (United) staged a walkout as soon as Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved the resolution on Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 on August 5, 2019.

“Our chief Nitish Kumar is carrying forward the tradition of JP Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia and George Fernandes. So our party is not supporting the Bill moved in the Rajya Sabha today. We have different thinking. We want that Article 370 should not be revoked,” senior JD(U) leader KC Tyagi said at the time.

After opposing the move, JD(U) subsequently struck a reconciliatory note saying the law that had come into force should be abided by all. JD(U) national general secretary Ram Chandra Prasad Singh on  said the party does not wish to engage in further ideological sparring.

AAP

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal supported the government. In a tweet after the decision, Kejriwal said, “We support the govt on its decisions on J & K. We hope this will bring peace and development in the state.” It has remained consistent in its stand.

Trinamool Congress

After Article 370 was scrapped, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee expressed concern about the safety of political leaders in Kashmir and said the BJP government’s process of abrogating the special status given to Jammu & Kashmir was flawed.

As Shah moved the resolution, Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said, “Trinamool is against the Constitutional immorality and procedural harakiri committed today.”

Speaking at a party event in Kolkata on August 15 that year, banerjee said the entire process of scrapping J&K’s special status was done in an atmosphere of fear. “I will not get into the arguments whether (abrogation) of Article 370 was right or wrong. But the process was wrong. It was done in an atmosphere of fear, using guns and bayonets, in an unconstitutional manner,” said Mamata.

Expressing concern about the status of former J&K CMs Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti, who were either arrested or placed under house arrest, Mamata said: “Even today don’t I have the right to know the whereabouts of the three Chief Ministers (of Jammu and Kashmir)? They were elected by the people. It has been seven to eight days since the shutdown in the Valley, but the people of the country still have no idea where they are,” she said.

Banerjee claimed one of the former J&K CMs called her a day before Article 370 was scrapped. “A day before all this happened about Kashmir, a (former) Chief Minister, one of whom whose whereabouts are not known now, called me and said we are all very afraid. If we are in danger will you stand by us? Unfortunately, we were not able to stand by them in the way we should have,” she added.

DMK

DMK president and Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin said after the Centre’s move, “Without consulting people of Jammu and Kashmir, Article 370 has been taken away. Democracy has been murdered. AIADMK is also supporting the decision which is condemnable.”