Article 35A Nehru's historical blunder, hampers economic development in J&K: Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday said Article 35A, which restricts non-permanent residents to buy property in Jammu and Kashmir, is "constitutionally vulnerable" and also hampering economic development of the state. The statement comes amidst the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pressing for early elections to the state assembly in the state. The state is under President's rule and the Union Cabinet takes all policy decisions related to the militancy-hit state. In a blog, Jaitley said the seven-decade history of the state of Jammu and Kashmir confronts changing India with several



questions.

"Was the Nehruvian course, which the state had embarked, a historical blunder or was it the correct course to follow? Most Indians today believe that it is the former. "Does our policy today have to be guided by that erroneous vision or an out of box thinking which is in consonance with ground reality?" Jaitley questioned. The senior BJP leader and in-charge of the party's campaign committee for general elections said Article 35A was "surreptitiously" included by a presidential notification in the Constitution in 1954.