BJP ready to take help from separatists to form government: Ghulam Nabi Azad

JAMMU: Congress today accused BJP of indulging in "political cheating" on the issue of Article 370 and said the saffron party was even ready to join hands with separatists to form government in Jammu and Kashmir.

"At the national and local levels, they (BJP) got support in the name of Article 370, but now they have said goodbye to the issue of Article 370 and are even ready to make government with the help of Hurriyat (separatists)," the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha said while releasing party manifesto here today.

Azad accused BJP of indulging in "political cheating" by "hoodwinking" people of the country on the issue of the revocation of Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

BJP, for which abrogation of Article 370 has been one of the core issues, has soft-pedalled it in the current elections. Senior BJP leader and union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has termed it a "national issue", saying it should not be discussed in the Assembly elections.

"We (Congress) have always said that Article 370 will never be revoked and will remain there in the Indian Constitution," he said.

Azad said BJP was "spreading canards" by saying that Article 370 was hurting Jammu region more as compared to Kashmir.

"We say that Article 370 has benefited the Jammu region more than it has benefited the Kashmir Valley. Because of this, Jammu has become more cosmopolitan city as compared to Srinagar," he said.

Azad said some parties are indulging in "political terrorism" by dividing people in the name of religion and region.

"Some political parties say one thing to the members of one community and another to another and they try to create communal divide, especially in Chenab Valley where members of both Hindu and Muslim community together fought the menace of terrorism," Azad said.