Restore statehood to J&K at the earliest: AAP

Seeking early restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood and installation of an elected government, the AAP on Sunday claimed that prolonged central rule in the erstwhile state was a negation of the Constitutional guarantees.

Chairman Jammu and Kashmir AAP state co-ordination committee Harsh Dev Singh made the remarks at a function here in which several sarpanches and panches joined the party.

On August 5, 2019, the Centre had abrogated Article 370, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, which came into existence on October 31 that year.

''The prolonged central rule in the erstwhile state is a negation of the Constitutional guarantees enshrined in the Constitution of India. We seek early restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and installation of an elected government in Jammu and Kashmir,'' the senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said.

Several assurances by the central government of restoring Jammu and Kashmir's statehood at the appropriate time has failed to inspire people, Singh said.

Demanding early restoration of statehood, he also urged for President Droupadi Murmu's intervention in the matter.