'Was advised not to roam around': Former Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde felt 'scared' to visit Kashmir, BJP takes dig at Congress

Former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said on Monday that he used to feel afraid to go out in Kashmir during his time in office. A day after his remarks at the launch of his memoir Five Decades of Politics, the BJP mocked the Congress, saying the abrogation of Article 370 has strengthened democracy.

"Before I became the Home Minister, I visited him (educationist Vijay Dhar). I used to ask him for advice. He advised me not to roam around but to visit Lal Chowk (in Srinagar), meet people and go around Dal Lake. That advice gave me publicity and people thought that here is a Home Minister who goes there without any fear, but who do I tell that I was scared? I told you this just to make you laugh, but an ex-policeman can't speak like this," Shinde had said during the launch of his memoir in Delhi.

Sushil Kumar Shinde was the Union Home Minister from August 2012 to May 2014, during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's UPA-II government.

Reacting to Shinde's remark, BJP leader and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said, "The difference is clear. Congress rule: Home Minister was scared to venture out in Kashmir. Modi era: 2-3 crore tourists are visiting Jammu and Kashmir yearly. Abrogation of Article 370 has strengthened democracy, diminished influence of corrupt political dynastic families and positively transformed the lives of Kashmiris."

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "Today Rahul Gandhi was comfortably seen doing Bharat Jodo Yatra and snow fight in Kasmir. But National Conference and Congress want to take J&K back to days of terror."

The BJP-led NDA government has credited the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir for reducing militancy in the region.

The Congress and National Conference, set to contest the upcoming Assembly election, claim the removal of Article 370 was a betrayal of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and have promised to restore it.

Article 370 was a constitutional provision that gave Jammu and Kashmir special autonomy, allowing the state to have its own constitution, flag, and control over internal matters, except for defense, communications, and foreign affairs.

On August 5, 2019, the government revoked Article 370, ending the region’s special status and reorganizing it into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.