New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS): The Congress may be going against the tide with party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad strongly opposing the government's move to repeal Article 370 and bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories (UTs).
Participating in the discussion on the bill proposed by Home Minister Amit Shah, Leader of Ppposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha Azad said that the government had sought to disintegrate the country.
He said that the people of J&K are not with the Centre.
The senior Congress leader said people of Kashmir had chosen to stay with secular India but the BJP government had "disintegrated" the country.
Azad said that with the proposed resolution, the number of states in the country would come down from 29 to 28.
"We went from Prime Minister to Chief Minister, now we're at Lt. Governor. You've made the Governor a clerk. You've made Jammu and Kashmir a non-entity. Bring this to your state and see what happens," he told Shah.
Azad also warned the Modi government saying "don't be intoxicated with power."
Even as the ruling BJP is gung-ho on revoking article 370 hoping for all-out support from the opposition, the road ahead may not be smooth with many opposition parties expressing reservations on the way the state of J&K has been proposed to be divided into two union territories.
The TMC leader Derek O'Brien said that it was a "dark Monday" and a mockery of the Constitution has been made. He appealed to leaders of other regional parties to oppose the way government had brought the resolution and bills pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir.
"What this basically means is that apply President's rule in the state, then you dissolve the House. Then you bring a Presidential resolution. Then in the morning, you do this... So, Bengal can become four states, Odisha, what is your lucky number, make it seven. Worst still, you make it a union territory (UT).
Samajwadi Party member Ram Gopal Yadav also opposed the government's move to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs.
However, several other parties such as BSP, AAP, AIADMK, YSRCP and BJD have backed the government.