The BJP, in its election manifesto, has promised to abrogate Article 370 and do away with Article 35A of the Constitution.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said Kashmir 'was and will always be an integral part of India' and thus, it 'cannot have its own prime minister'.
"Kashmir will never be separated from India. It was, is and always will be an integral part of India. There cannot be two prime ministers in the country. It is absolutely clear in our election manifesto that if we form a government Article 370, Article 35A will be removed," Rajnath Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.
The home minister's comments come almost a week after former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, in a speech in Kashmir's Bandipora, pitched for the revival of the posts of prime minister and president for Jammu and Kashmir.
"This is their frustration. Let them say whatever they want; we will go ahead and do what we have to do," the home minister said, when asked about Abdullah's and Mehbooba Mufti's statements.
He added, "They are giving such statements with elections in mind. As for the BJP, we have written everything in the manifesto after having discussed it with the people, and we will carry it out when we come back to power."
The BJP, in its election manifesto, has promised to abrogate Article 370 and do away with Article 35A of the Constitution. The manifesto says that the NDA government is committed to overcoming all obstacles that come in the way of development in J-K.
For the unversed, Article 35A protects the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir with respect to employment, property and aids by the state government, whereas Article 370 protects and grants special status to the sovereignty of the state giving the power to make a separate set of laws to be applied for its governance.
Rajnath Singh further explained that during his tenure as the Home Minister he tried continuously to hold dialogues with Kashmiri leaders, who showed no inclination for talks.
"There is no room for debate left. Even Mehbooba Mufti failed at making them sit and talk about Kashmir with me. She personally told me they were not ready to talk," he said.
