BHUBANESWAR: With the BJP needing the numbers to see through the historic move to scrap Article 370 of Indian Constitution in the Rajya Sabha, the BJD threw its weight behind the resolution stating that nation came first for the party.
“I support this resolution. My party BJD supports this resolution. Even though we (BJD) are a regional party, the nation is first for us,” Acharya said during debate on the resolution in Rajya Sabha. “We have our regional aspiration. But for us, our motherland comes first, ahead of everything,” he said.
Praising Shah for the move after 70 years, Acharya said Jammu and Kashmir now seem to be an integral part of India.
“We have been saying that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral of India. Is it really an integral part where the Constitution of India could not be implemented? An Indian citizen is not allowed to buy property in a place which is claimed as part of the country,” he said.
While extending full support to the scrapping of article 370, Acharya said the people of the country are waiting to see Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) to become a part of India.
“130 crore people of the country are eagerly waiting for the day when the POK will become an integral part of the nation,” the BJD MP further said.
Acharya, however, expressed concern over freedom of Kashmiris because of the scrapping of Article 370.
“We are very much concerned about the freedom of people in Kashmir. We want to make people of Kashmir free from torture. But, at the same time, we are forgetting what happened to the Kashmiri pundits in the past 70 years,” he said.
His party colleague Sasmit Patra also supported the scrapping of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and said the move is in the right direction. Stating that Article 370 has always kept Kashmir away from the country, Patra said now it has become an integral part. Stating that the Government should now initiate measures to settle the Kashmiri Pandits who are living out of Kashmir, the BJD member also lauded the decision to carve out Ladakh as a Union Territory without legislature.
Supporting the move, BJD member Amar Patnaik said abrogation of Article 370 and reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir is a welcome move. Patnaik said the electoral and developmental process in State should be started soon. “The seamless integration of Kashmiris into mainstream development benefits all instead of a handful of separatists and political leaders,” he said. His party colleague Prashant Nanda also supported the move.