Article 370 to stay, Rajya Sabha told
The Centre has told the Rajya Sabha that it doesn't propose to repeal Article 370 which gives special status to J&K.MoS (home) H P Chaudhary said the Article was “a device to continue the existing relationship of J&K with the Union of India“.
For several decades now the Bharatiya Janata Party has been shrill in its demand that Article 370, which grants special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir, be scrapped. It has been a key political agenda for the BJP's ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS; rivals have attacked it.
The BJP manifesto for the 2004 general elections had no reference to Article 370. But in 2009, the BJP's manifesto said, "Article 370 poses a psychological barrier for the full integration of the people of Jammu & Kashmir with the national mainstream. The BJP remains committed to the abrogation of this Article"
