New delhi: Reflecting a change in stance, BJP President Rajnath Singh today said his party has no objection to Article 370 which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir if it helps in the development of the state.
"J&K is a very serious, very sensitive region for us... If J&K develops because of Article 370, then we have no objection in keeping it," he said in his inaugural addresses at the two-day National Executive meet of the party.
This marks a change in BJP's stand as it has been consistently demanding repeal of the Article and has aggressively campaigned for it.
However, in a bid to not appear as giving up the issue, Rajnath Singh went on to add that if the Article 370 was a "conspiracy" to stop the state from joining Indian mainstream, then his party would not accept it under any circumstances.
The party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had earlier last month stated at a rally in Jammu that there should be at least a debate on whether or not Article 370 has benefitted the state.
"As per Constitution, the debate will continue whether the Article 370 should end or continue-- at least there should be debate whether Article 370 has benefitted J&K or not," the Gujarat Chief Minister had said at the rally on December one.
