Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday claimed that Mallikarjun Kharge’s slip of tongue during Jaipur rally inadvertently exposed the Narendra Modi government’s gameplan to change Article 371 of the Constitution.
Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s dig at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge over a “slip of tongue”, Ramesh clarified, “Today by a slip of the tongue in his speech in Jaipur, @INCIndia President Mallikarjun Kharge ji mistakenly said that Modi claims credit for abolishing Article 371. Kharge ji clearly meant Article 370.”
He further added, “Amit Shah immediately pounced on the Congress President. But the truth is that Modi does indeed want to change Article 371-A relating to Nagaland, Article 371-B relating to Assam, Article 371-C relating to Manipur, Article 371-F relating to Sikkim, Article 371-G relating to Mizoram, and Article 371-H relating to Arunachal Pradesh.”
He continued, “Amit Shah got all excited and agitated because Khargeji inadvertently exposed the Modi-Shah gameplan on Article 371; now that they have gotten Article 370 out of the way.”
Earlier in the day, addressing a gathering in Rajasthan’s Jaipur, Kharge had objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioning Article 370 during his Friday’s rally in Churu. However, the Congress chief mistakenly said that ‘Modi claims credit for abolishing Article 371’.
Later Amit Shah slammed his remarks and called out the Congress chief for his “horrendous mistake”.
“…And for the kind information of the Congress, it was not Article 371, but Article 370, that was abrogated by the Modi government. However, it is only expected of Congress to make such horrendous mistakes. Such blunders made by it have haunted our nation for decades now,” Shah said.