PM should clear stand on Article 370, says Omar Abdullah

Srinagar, Dec 5: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should clear his stand on the issue of Article 370, a constitutional provision which guarantees special status to the state.

"He (Modi) is coming for elections. We hope the Prime Minister would issue some clarity on the issues on which campaigning is taking place and on which people have questions ... As a Kashmiri, I would want to know what the Prime Minister wants to do with Article 370 and what is the agenda of the Centre (on the issue)," Omar told reporters here.

The chief minister was speaking on the sidelines of a prayer meeting at the mausoleum of his grandfather and former CM Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on his birth anniversary.

Omar said the BJP had contested the Parliament elections promising to abrogate the Article, but had now "kept silent" on the issue as it was seeking votes from the people of Kashmir.

"Article 370 is such an issue on which the BJP has contested elections since the beginning. It has been just seven or eight months, when they sought votes from the people of Jammu and the country saying they would abrogate Article 370 if the people made them successful.

"Immediately after becoming a minister, Jitendra Singh had said they had started discussions on the abrogation of the article. Now that they are seeking votes from the people of Kashmir, they have kept silent on the issue of Article 370," Omar said.

PTI