Article 370 restoration demand triggers ruckus in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly again

The BJP MLAs raised 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' slogan inside the House after a People's Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker flashed a banner seeking restoration of Article 370, which used to grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The opposition MLAs were marshalled out of the House after they stormed into the well.

The ruckus occurred a day after a confrontation was witnessed by the House on Article 370, which was abrogated by the BJP-ruled Centre in 2019.

Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid's brother and Awami Ittehad Party MLA, Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh, flashed a banner on Article 370 prompting Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA, Sunil Sharma, to object to it.

Soon, the MLAs of both the ruling and opposition camp clashed, and went into a brawl throwing a few punches to one another.

The fight went to an extent so that the marshals had to intervene and stop the brawl in the House.

The Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution seeking restoration of special status, which was withdrawn through the abrogation of Article 370 by the Centre in 2019, amid uproar.

In a historic move, the BJP-led Centre on August 5, 2019 abrogated Articles 370 and 35A stripping the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir of special status.

The Centre also bifurcated the erstwhile state into two union territories, namely Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

For the first time since the abrogation, Jammu and Kashmir headed for the assembly elections in September-October 2024.

The assembly elections brought the NC-Congress alliance to power but significantly saw BJP's dominance in the Jammu region of the union territory.

The NC-Congress alliance won 48 seats (42 of NC and 6 of Congress) with majority of them yielded from the Kashmir valley while the Bharatiya Janata Party swept the Jammu region winning 29 seats.

PDP has won only three seats in a significant drop from the figure of 28 which it had registered in the last assembly elections held in 2014.