Article 370 debate a no-brainer, provision can't be repealed: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress today echoed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's view that Article 370 that provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir simply "cannot be repealed", saying it will need the consent of the Constituent Assembly which "cannot be resurrected".

There should be a basic understanding of the Constitution before any statement is made on such a "sensitive issue", party leader Manish Tewari said a day after the new Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh stoked a controversy seeking a debate on Article 370.

"Article 370 (3) read with Article 370 (2) clarifies 370 cannot be repealed without consent of constituent assembly which does not exist. No brainer," Tewari tweeted.

He said, "Article 370 makes it very clear if you read Article 370's section 3 that the President of India can only by notification repeal it if he has the explicit consent of the Constituent Assembly.

"And the Constituent Assembly has prorogued and ceased to exist. It has been dissolved and it cannot be resurrected."

He added, "So obviously a bare read of the Constitutional provisions makes it clear that it is not possible even if there is a desire to repeal Article 370.... There should be a basic understanding of the Constitution before any articulation is done or any statement is made on such a sensitive issue".

Speaking in the same vein, Omar said today that the BJP government cannot abrogate Article 370 till the Constituent Assembly is recalled.

"The Constituent Assembly approved accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. If you want to raise the question once again, then you need to bring the Constituent Assembly and then we will talk," Omar told reporters, while defending the constitutional provision.