J&K will be given statehood in due time, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday urged the Lok Sabha members not to oppose the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021’, which was passed in the lower house today, just for the sake of politics.

Highlighting that the bill does not mention anything about not granting statehood to the Union Territory, Shah said, “I will reiterate again that this bill has nothing to do with the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, in due time J&K will be given statehood.”

Taking a jibe at the Congress party, the Home Minister said, “you are asking us what we did in the last 17 months, what have you done in the last 70 years.”

During discussions on the Bill, opposition party members slammed the BJP for making empty promises in the Union Territory and giving a tainted picture of “Vikas” happening there. Congress pointed out at increase in internet bans, ceasefire violations, curfews as well as the shrinkage of industries since the abrogation of article 370. Congress MP Manish Tiwari urged BJP to restore statehood in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier in the day, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mocked Rahul Gandhi for talking about farm laws, when the Congress party itself does not know where it stands on the issue. “When he stood up, my expectations were that he would explain why Congress has taken a U turn on their position for farmers when in their manifesto they talked about similar reforms brought by us,” Sitharaman said. She also slammed the Congress party for promising “farm loans” in order to get votes and then never implementing those in states like Madhya Pradesh. Her speech invoked reactions from the opposition.

Sitharaman, in her reply to the Budget discussions in Lok Sabha, said that Covid-19 pandemic did not stop the Centre from making the necessary reforms. “The Prime Minister has not lost the opportunity due to the pandemic in bringing reforms,” Sitharaman said. She highlighted that these reforms were reflected in policies to make India one of the top economies in the world. “This Budget coming post pandemic has set the pace for India to become aatmanirbhar,” she added.

The first leg of the ‘Union Budget 2021’ session in the lower house will end on Saturday with both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha set to reconvene on March 8.