A day after the central government’s move on Article 370 was successful and it got the President’s approval after being passed in both houses of the parliament, NDA partner JDU has softened its stand.
As per reports, JDU has stated that the law has come into force and should be abided by all. Rajya Sabha MP and JDU’s general secretary Ram Chandra Prasad Singh has stated that the JDU does not wish to engage in further ideological sparring with the BJP. He has also stated that the party’s stand on the issue will have no bearings with the NDA alliance in Bihar.
Singh, upon being asked why did his part not support the BJP over stripping of the Article 370 in parliament, Singh replied, “We could not have supported the bill. We were not consulted by the Centre before it brought the bill.”
JDU is a major NDA partner. It has 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 6 MPs in the Rajya Sabha.
Earlier, BJP leader and Bihar’s deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi had voiced that Article 370 has been stripped now and political parties should accept the truth. He had added that the opposing parties should accept the reality too and come forward for the development of the newly formed UTs, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Though Sushil Modi did not name Nitish Kumar or JDU, his message was quite clear.
संविधान की धारा 370 के सारे आपत्तिजनक प्रावधान समाप्त करने और दो केंद्र शासित प्रदेशों के गठन पर संसद की मुहर के बाद राष्ट्रपति रामनाथ कोविंद ने जब इसे लागू करने वाली अधिसूचना भी जारी कर दी, तब नई संवैधानिक और राजनीतिक सच्चाई स्वीकार करते हुए सभी दलों को जम्मू-कश्मीर और लद्दाख… pic.twitter.com/KrZ3WdKHvw
— Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) August 7, 2019
Sushil Modi had also stated, in an evident hint towards JDU, that even many Congress leaders, like Bhubaneswar Kalita and Jyotiraditya Scindia, are saying that it is a good move and ‘honest reconsiderations are always a good option.’
It is notable here that despite being a major NDA partner, JDU has not been supportive of the government in the parliament over major reforms and bills. It had also opposed the Triple Talaq Bill and had abstained from voting.
Though the BJP and JDU are the ruling alliance in Bihar, JDU had also expressed its dissatisfaction at being offered only one cabinet seat after NDA’s win in the 2019 general elections and had stayed away from being a part of the government.
