BJP misleading people on Articles 370, 371, says Ramesh

Guwahati, Nov 6 (IANS) Calling the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) past masters at distorting history, veteran Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, here on Wednesday, the ruling party was misleading people on Article 370 and Article 371."The Prime Minister has said abrogation of Article 370 is a 'toufa' (gift) to Sardar Patel. But Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the architect of Article 370," Ramesh said.Stating that the BJP is also misleading people about Article 371 in northeast, he said, "It's a lie that Article 371 provides protection to states, like Nagaland and Sikkim. If Article 370 was temporary, Article 371 is also temporary."The senior Congress leader also slammed the BJP's economic policies. He said the Congress was opposing privatisation of banks, Numaligarh Refinery and Bharat Petroleum. "The Congress governments built the public sector undertakings in last 70 years," he said.Whatever Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed, "the reality is there is no investment, no jobs, and economy has halted," he said adding the Congress would continue to oppose the wrong economic policies of the BJP government.
--IANS ah/pcj