Mamata to address twin rallies in Asansol on Saturday
Law minister Moloy Ghatak, chairman of AMC, Amarnath Chatterjee and other top TMC leaders inspected both the venues in Asansol and Kulti, today.
As Centre abrogated Article 370 on August 5 the decision was met with a few Opposition parties slamming the move. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was one of those leaders who slammed the government for dividing Jammu and Kashmir without consulting all stakeholders and said her party Trinamool Congress will not support or vote for the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill.
#DidiDirectOnKashmir pic.twitter.com/4QN89JWaiS
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) August 6, 2019
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In her reaction, Banerjee said she was “not talking about the merit” of the bill, but felt the government should have called an all-party meeting and also discussed it with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“I don’t agree with the procedural method. I am not talking about the merit of the Bill. My party has taken a strong decision. We cannot support this Bill, nor vote for it,” Banerjee told reporters.
Banerjee also said talking to local Kashmiris and taking them into confidence would have been a democratic way to pass this order. “We are against the procedural lapses,” said Banerjee.
Speaking on arrests of former chief ministers of the state Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, the TMC leader said, “I will request and appeal the government that they are also Kashmiri people they are our brothers and sisters they should not feel any isolation they should feel that they are very much with the country… they are not terrorists they should be released for the interest of the democratic institution.”
She said the Bill has been passed in an undemocratic manner. “It is neither constitutionally, legally, technically praiseworthy nor democratic. They should have discussed it in an all party-meeting and also with the local people,” she said.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 and adopted the resolution to abrogate the Constitution’s Article 370.
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