HYDERABAD: Terming it as ‘historic’, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi supported the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. “Today is not a black day as claimed by some. Today is vikas ka din and kranti ka din (day of development and revolution),” said Nama Nageswara Rao, the party’s floor leader in the Lok Sabha.
While participating in the debate on the Bill on Tuesday, Nageswara Rao said the abrogation of Article 370 was a matter of happiness. Terming the Article as ‘a historic blunder’, he said the latest Bill would “rectify” the mistake. “Today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the phrase ‘Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK)’ would no longer exist. I suggest PoK be hereafter called ‘Indian Kashmir (IK)’. The first welcome step has been to introduce the J&K Reorganisation Bill. The Centre’s second step should be to rename PoK as IK,” the TRS MP said.
Nama even said that those who opposed the Bill should be treated as “anti-national and anti-Kashmir”. Nageswara Rao said that he watched Amit Shah’s speech from the Rajya Sabha gallery on Monday. “The Home Minister said that the Jammu and Kashmir would be developed in next five years. The people of Kashmir will feel happy about this,” he said.
He recalled his visit to Jammu and Kashmir when he was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha. “I had visited Kashmir and interacted with leaders of Hurriyat Conference along with Sitaram Yechuri and Owaisi. This was in 2010. At that time, we had wished for a permanent solution for the Kashmir issue. It is now 2019. We found a solution,” he said. Nageswara Rao slammed people who had termed the day a “black day”.
“When the Centre is providing employment to the youth in Kashmir and planning for industrial development, how could it be a black day?” he asked.The TRS MP also pointed out that TRS wished for creation of smaller States. “Since Telangana was carved out, it has seen rapid progress in the past five years. Now, Telangana is number one on the industrial, power and farmers fronts,” he explained.
CONGRESS’ Jagga Reddy WELCOMES MOVE
Senior Congress MLA, Jayaprakash ‘Jagga’ Reddy on Tuesday hailed the abrogation of Article 370, calling it a courageous decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Only the previous day, party MLA from Munugode, Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, heaped praises on the Central government, defying the Congress stance on the matter. Speaking to reporters at the CLP office, Jagga Reddy, who had been in RSS in the past, said he differs from his party’s stance. “As an Indian, I feel the Modi government has taken the right decision. My party has opposed the NDA government’s move as it feels it has consulted with all stakeholders before it made its move. However, as an individual, I think this was the right move. It will bring peace to the Kashmir valley,” he said.