BJP lauds NC over ''denying'' need of Pak currency in J

Jammu, Apr 22 (UNI) The Bhartiya Janata Party today appreciated the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference patron Dr Farooq Abdullah for his statement that the state shall ever remain an integral part of India, without any question of Pakistani currency being introduced in it.

''If Dr Abdullah wants to establish his secular and democratic credentials, then he has no other alternative but to join the BJP crusade against article 370, which has simply promoted fissiparous tendencies in the state and not allowed it to integrate emotionally with the rest of the country,'' said the BJP State vice-president Prof Hari Om in a statement issued here.

However, on PDP President Mehbooba Mufti's assertion that her party has changed the status quo on Kashmir, Prof Om said Congress has not reacted even once over what the PDP leaders have been saying as a solution to the so-called Kashmir problem.

''The continued alliance of the Congress with the controversial PDP has created a suspicion in the minds of the people that the Congress is not opposed to what the PDP has been preaching in and outside the state,'' Prof Om said.

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