Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge urge PM Modi to restore statehood of J&K during Parliament's Monsoon Session

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for the restoration of full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir in the Monsoon Session of Parliament that is set to begin from July 21.

The letter also urged the government to include the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution

In the letter, the Congress president and the LoP said that the the prime minister had himself assured that the statehood would be restored.


"For the past five years, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have consistently called for the restoration of full statehood. This demand is both legitimate and firmly grounded in their constitutional and democratic rights. It is important to recognise that while there have been instances of Union Territories being granted statehood in the past, the case of Jammu and Kashmir is without precedent in independent India," the letter reads.


"Your goodself has, on multiple occasions, personally reiterated the government's commitment to restoring statehood. In your interview in Bhubaneswar on 19 May 2024, you stated: 'The restoration of statehood is a solemn promise we have made and we stand by it.' Again, while addressing a rally in Srinagar on 19 September 2024, you reaffirmed: 'We have said in Parliament that we will restore the region's statehood.' Furthermore, the Union Government has made similar assurances before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the In Re: Article 370 matter," the letter adds.

The BJP government had on August 5, 2019, revoked Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir and the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories.