SRINAGAR: Omar Abdullah, vice president of the National Conference (NC), stated here on Thursday that any attempt to fiddle with the Constitution would not be helpful for the nation since it cannot be changed so quickly. In answer to a reporter’s inquiry, he made these comments regarding the Congress’s claim that the words “socialist” and “secular” had been removed from the Preamble of the Constitution. The Constitution is not easily amendable. Obtaining a two-thirds majority is necessary to amend the Constitution. As far as I’m aware, neither the Lok Sabha nor the Rajya Sabha have held a vote to eliminate such phrases, Abdullah told reporters in the Handwara neighbourhood of the Kupwara region in north Kashmir. He claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power, circulated copies of the original Constitution among its members as proof that the occasion of shifting parliamentary proceedings from the old building to the new one was significant. If that is accurate, then we have no issues. We have always maintained that if Jammu and Kashmir joined India, it joined Mahatma Gandhi’s country, not the country of the RSS or Sangh Parivar,” the NC leader added. However, if they are tampering with the Constitution, then, pardon me, it will not be beneficial for the nation. When asked if his party had high hopes for the Supreme Court’s decision on a group of petitions contesting the repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution, Abdullah responded that the NC had done everything it could and that “we are hopeful of (getting) justice.” In response to reports that 80 percent of Jammu and Kashmir’s residents are satisfied with the current form of government, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha replied, “Let the Assembly elections be held to see if that is the case.” We were unable to see these 80% of the population. Why do people attend our programmes if that is the case? People travel to locations with NC programmes.
