States » NorthPosted at: Sep 28 2026 6:39PM


‘Won’t allow J&K Assembly to be made platform for Pakistan’s agenda’: LoP Sunil Sharma

Srinagar, Sept 28 (UNI) Hours after the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed a resolution seeking restoration of statehood, Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma on Monday said the BJP would not allow the Assembly to be turned into a platform for what he described as Pakistan’s agenda.
The senior BJP leader said the party supports restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir but strongly opposed the inclusion of references to Article 370, Article 35A and the pre-1953 position in the resolution passed by the Assembly.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly Monday passed a resolution for the restoration of statehood amid protests by the BJP legislators.
Addressing a press conference after the Assembly passed the resolution seeking restoration of statehood, LoP Sharma said the BJP would have welcomed the move had it been confined to the demand for statehood.
“BJP is not opposition for the sake of opposition. We are in favour of statehood. If the resolution had been moved only in the name of statehood, we would have welcomed it,” he said.
Sharma said Jammu and Kashmir is a sensitive region and maintained that it is not necessary for the opposition to oppose every government's proposal.
“There are a lot of expectations of poor people from this House. It is the fifth day of the Assembly and there are several issues on which there should be consensus. It is not necessary that the opposition should oppose everything,” he said.
However, he accused the National Conference-led government of attempting to reopen issues that, according to him, had already been settled.
“There is no scope for Article 370 and no scope for the pre-1953 position in a statehood resolution,” Sharma said.
He also alleged that the inclusion of such issues could provide a platform to what he described as Pakistan’s agenda.
He said that with the removal of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India, and no language challenging India’s sovereignty or integrity should be allowed for debate in the J&K Assembly.
“This is what Pakistan wants. Pakistan took the Kashmir issue to the United Nations, and now its agenda is being discussed in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. The Assembly cannot be made a platform for Pakistan’s agenda,” he said.
Sharma questioned the Congress party’s position on the issue and asked whether it supported restoration of the pre-1953 position and Articles 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Congress should answer: Does it want the pre-1953 position in Jammu and Kashmir? Does it want restoration of Articles 35A and 370?” he said, asking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the party leadership to clarify their stand.
The BJP leader also criticised Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, alleging that he had allowed matters which the BJP considered unconstitutional to be brought before the House.
He said the BJP legislature party had moved a motion seeking the Speaker’s removal.
“We demand the removal of the Speaker because, according to us, he has lost the confidence of the House by allowing unconstitutional matters to be brought before the Assembly,” Sharma said.
The BJP members had opposed the resolution in the House and disrupted proceedings over the inclusion of references to the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sharma reiterated that the BJP supported statehood and said the restoration of statehood should not be linked with other constitutional demands.
He also criticised the government over issues concerning daily-wage workers, NHM employees, NYC workers, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and vocational trainers, saying the administration should focus on addressing their grievances instead of revisiting historical political issues.
Sharma also rejected the argument that Jammu and Kashmir required a separate constitutional framework on account of its Muslim-majority character, pointing to special constitutional provisions applicable to several other parts of the country.
He reiterated that the BJP’s position was clear: it supports restoration of statehood but would oppose any attempt to use the Assembly to revive Article 370, Article 35A or the pre-1953 constitutional arrangement.
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