Even if Indira Gandhi returns from heaven, Article 370 won't be restored: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.

The BJP's star campaigner sought to corner the Congress over Muslim reservation and accused the main opposition party of deliberately stalling construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya for years.

With just a week left for the high-stakes assembly polls in Maharashtra, Shah stepped up his campaigning for the ruling Mahayuti front, of which the BJP is a member, and addressed three rallies in a day where he attacked the Congress and its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Shiv Sena (UBT).

Addressing a rally at Dhule in North Maharashtra, Shah said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should remember that even if his “fourth generation were to come”, Muslims won't get reservations meant for Dalits, tribals and other backward castes.

“A few days ago, Ulemas (Muslim scholars) met the president of Congress party and said Muslims should be given reservation (in jobs and education). If reservation has to be given to Muslims, then reservation for SCs/STs/OBCs will have to be cut. Rahul Baba, not only you but even if your four generations were to come, they cannot cut the quota meant for SCs/STs/OBCs and give it to Muslims,” Shah insisted.

The Union minister made it clear that Article 370, scrapped in 2019 by the BJP-led central government, won't be restored under any circumstances.

“Even if Indira Gandhi were to return from heaven, Article 370 won't be restored,” the BJP stalwart told the gathering.