There can only be “one flag, one head, and one Constitution” in the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on December 5. He was speaking during a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, which were taken up in the Lok Sabha.
Members of the Opposition questioned the introduction of the Bills as the primary Act they are meant to amend — the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, which removed the special status of the former State of J&K under Article 370 of the Constitution — has been challenged in Supreme Court and a verdict is still awaited.
The Opposition MPs also asked why no elections have been held in J&K for the past decade, if normalcy has indeed returned in the Kashmir Valley, as the government has claimed. The deplorable condition of electricity supply in J&K, which is witnessing power outages for more than ten hours a day in a season of extreme cold weather, was also raised.
