Mamata to oppose 'undemocratic' J&K Reorganisation Bill

Kolkata, Aug 6 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday slammed the Centre 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.In a carefully crafted 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.The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019 and adopted the resolution to abrogate the Constitution's Article 370. "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. 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.
--IANS bnd-ssp/skp/bc