AFSPA dilution: Will Amit Shah ask Rajnath Singh to step down, asks Mehbooba Mufti

"Amit Shah claims that they withdrew support from PDP led govt because I insisted on AFSPA revocation. What is their reaction on Rajnath ji saying the very same thing. Wonder if they will ask him to resign as Home Minister," Mufti said.

afspa, afspa row, mehbooba mufti on afspa, rajnath singh on afspa, amit shah on afspa, rajnath singh, amit shah, mehbooba mufti, arun jaitley, lok sabha elections 2019

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday took a swipe at BJP chief Amit Shah over his remarks that the party had pulled out of the coalition following pressure from the PDP to dilute the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the state.

Referring to a report by The Indian Express in which Rajnath Singh claimed that “AFSPA can be withdrawn from the Valley once normalcy is restored”, the PDP chief highlighted the contradictory stand on the issue within the BJP and wondered if the party would now seek the resignation of the Union Home Minister.

“Amit Shah claims that they withdrew support from PDP-led govt because I insisted on AFSPA revocation. What is their reaction on Rajnath ji saying the very same thing. Wonder if they will ask him to resign as Home Minister,” she posted on Twitter.

Amit Shah claims that they withdrew support from PDP led govt because I insisted on AFSPA revocation. What is their reaction on Rajnath ji saying the very same thing.Wonder if they will ask him to resign as Home Minister. pic.twitter.com/EFWLnhUOCE

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) April 5, 2019

On Wednesday, Shah had asked the Congress to stop day-dreaming about diluting AFSPA after coming to power. In an apparent reference to the PDP-BJP coalition government Jammu and Kashmir, he said, “When pressure came to dilute AFSPA, we pulled out.”

However, the following day, Singh said the AFSPA can be withdrawn from the Valley once normalcy is restored there. “Kashmir mei bhi samanya sthiti paida hoti hai toh wahan se bhi wapas kar lenge (it will be withdrawn from Kashmir too if the situation there returns to normal),” he had said.

Even senior Congress leader P Chidambaram tried to corner Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the issue and asked why he was mum on the withdrawal of the controversial Act from Tripura, Meghalaya and parts of Arunachal Pradesh.

In a series of tweets, Mr Chidambaram asked Jaitley whether he supported “enforced disappearance, sexual violence and torture”, the allegations which are common in areas where AFSPA is in force.