Former finance minister and Modi government critic Yashwant Sinha on Monday described the Centre’s decision to revoke Article 370 as “a pure political step”. Speaking to NDTV, he predicted that the move would help the BJP win by an even wider margin than the Congress did under Rajiv Gandhi after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984.

Sinha’s criticism

Sinha, who has left the BJP, warned that the decision would further alienate the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He argued that the government’s action on Articles 370 and 35A was driven by politics and timed to help the party win upcoming elections in several important states. “They (BJP) will beat Rajiv Gandhi’s record,” he said.

In 1984, a sympathy wave after Indira Gandhi’s killing helped the Congress under Rajiv Gandhi win 426 of 567 seats in Parliament.

Shah’s case in the Rajya Sabha

Moving the resolution in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Home Minister Amit Shah said he was confident that ending Article 370 would bring a close to the long bloodshed in Kashmir. He argued that Article 370 had harmed Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, that Article 35A had fed corruption, and that the provision was anti-women, a root cause of terrorism and responsible for poverty in the Valley.

Responding to opposition fears, Shah insisted nothing untoward would happen and that Kashmir would not be allowed to become a war-torn Kosovo. He said full statehood would be restored at an appropriate time once normalcy returned, and that the government was committed to turning Jammu and Kashmir into India’s most developed state.

The accompanying bill splits the state into two union territories, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Under the resolution, all clauses of Article 370 would cease to operate from 5th of August 2019. Shah also moved the resolution in the Lok Sabha, where opposition parties walked out, and said it would be taken up for consideration on Tuesday.

What happened next

Parliament ended Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 on 5-6 August 2019, and the state was reorganised into two union territories.

Originally published on 6 August 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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