New Delhi:

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday lashed out at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing him of raising the issue of abrogating Article 370 of the constitution that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir in Rajasthan, threatening the ruling party. The party lashed out, with Home Minister Amit Shah saying the opposition’s “Italian culture” was to blame as it did not understand Indian ideas.

Mr Shah and other leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including president JP Nadda, shared a short clip of Haq’s speech at to Jammu and Kashmir in the state of Rajasthan.

“Hey bro, how are the people here? (What does this have to do with the people here)? ” Mr Haq can be heard asking in the video. The Congress president also mistakenly mentioned Article 371 instead of Article 370, which gave special rights to Jammu and Kashmir and had been repealed in August 2019. A BJP-led Center was formed.

Mr Shah said on X it was “disgraceful” to hear Mr Haq’s comments. He reminded the House that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and every state and citizen has rights over it just like the people of the Union Territory have rights over the rest of India.

Slamming the Congress, Mr Shah said the party was unaware of the many brave sons of Rajasthan who sacrificed their lives for peace and security in Kashmir.

“But it’s not just the fault of the Congress leaders. It’s mainly the Italian culture of the Congress that doesn’t understand what India thinks. Such remarks hurt every patriotic citizen who cares about the unity and integrity of the country. People will definitely respond Congress,” he said in the post

It is shameful to hear the Congress party asking “Kashmir se kya waasta hai?”

I would like to remind the Congress party that J&K is an integral part of India and every state and citizen has rights to J&K just like the people of J&K have rights to other countries… pic.twitter.com/cFeO80XBxl

— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) April 6, 2024

“As far as the information provided by the Congress party is concerned, it is not Article 371 but Article 370 that the Modi government has abrogated,” he added.

The interior minister continued his attack, saying only Congress could make such a terrible mistake. “It has made mistakes like this that have plagued our country for decades,” he said.

Mr. Nadda also seized on the issue to lash out at the Congress.

In a post on The relevant article is Article 370, not Article 371.”

Another day, another gem in Congress! Haqq Ji displayed a typical Congress mentality of wanting Jammu and Kashmir to remain disconnected from the rest of India. He didn’t even know that the article was Article 370 and not Article 371!

Jammu and Kashmir will remain… pic.twitter.com/JMy6zUFGpf

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (Modi Ka Parivar) (@JPNadda) April 6, 2024

Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, the BJP chief said, adding that the abrogation of Article 370 is closely linked to India’s national pride, unity and integrity.

Congress will never understand that sentiment, he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)