Former senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Sunday that he has not pledged to restore Article 370 in his new political agenda now as he does not accept it as a false promise.
In a public meeting in north Kashmir`, Azad said, “To repair Article 370 would want around 350 votes in the Lok Sabha and 175 votes in the Rajya Sabha. This is a range no political party has or is possible to ever get.” He also said, “The Congress has shrunken to less than 50 seats and if they speak of restoring Article 370, they are making false promises.”
He said his political agenda includes recovery of the state, land, and jobs for locals as these are viable objectives.
“Some people have blamed me for voting in favor of the Article 370 abrogation movement introduced by way of the domestic minister. I have voted towards the abrogation and these humans who have no thought about the working of Parliament are saying that I voted against Article 370,” he said.
He said that when he was once the chief minister of the state, he had arrested 13 police personnel for staging a botched incident in which three people were killed.
“The arrested people are in the penitentiary for the remaining 15 years,” he said.
He spoke about the development work and introduction of districts during his tenure as Chief Minister.
“Four new districts were created in the Valley and three in the Jammu division at some stage in my tenure as the chief minister. I received new clinical schools all through that period.
“Whether I get four votes or lakhs of votes during the elections, I will in no way deceive the people,” he certain the public gathering.
This was Azad’s first public meeting in Kashmir after resigning from the initial membership of the Congress party.
