Madhya Pradesh CM's Demand for Congress Clarification on Pakistan Minister's Remarks

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav demanded an explanation from the Congress following Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's comments on restoring Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Yadav described Asif's remarks as condemnable and called for Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to clarify the party's stand on the issue.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday sought an explanation from the Congress over Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's remarks on the restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently facing assembly polls.

Asif has said that Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif government and the Congress-National Conference alliance in Jammu and Kashmir were on the same page on the issue of restoration of Article 370, which was nullified by the Narendra Modi government in August 2019.

Terming Asif's remarks as highly condemnable, Yadav demanded that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge clarify his party's stand on the sensitive issue.

''Pakistan Defence Minister Asif is openly saying that on the issue of (restoration) of Articles 370 and 35A in J&K, Pakistan, the Congress and the National Conference have the same opinion. So did Pakistan get this alliance (between Congress and NC) done..? For this, the Congress national President should clarify his stand. This is highly condemnable,'' he said in a statement.

Article 35A gave special rights and privileges to ''permanent residents'' of J&K.

The senior BJP leader maintained that if the Congress was pushing Pakistan's agenda, then it was very unfortunate, and described Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state special rights, as a ''blot''.

''It appears the Congress is trying to join hands with enemies of the country for electoral politics and it is a matter of shame for it. The Congress president should apologise for this entire episode and give a strong reply to Pakistan,'' Yadav demanded.

Asif's remarks came amid the ongoing assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the first since the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago. The Congress and the Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference are contesting the polls as allies.

(With inputs from agencies.)