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Written by: Press Trust of Kashmir

Created: 01 July 2019

SRINAGAR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday introduced two bills in Rajya Sabha on Monday — the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and one for the extension of President’s rule in the state. The President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir, which will come to end tomorrow, needs a renewal. Both the bills have already been passed in the lower house of the Parliament on June 28, 2019.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Shah proposed amendments to the J&K Reservation Act, 2004 including 43 percent reservations for those who live along the International Border. Previously the reservation only covered people who lived along the Actual Line of Control. The Opposition had opposed the proposal alleging that it would imply that there would be no elections for another six months. Since June 2018, the state is under Central rule after the BJP ended its alliance with the Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party.

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav extended party’s support to Amit Shah’s proposal. He announced in the Rajya Sabha that the party will support the extension by 6 months of the President’s rule in Jammu & Kashmir. While addressing the Rajya Sabha, Shah asserted that the Election Commission (EC) has decided to conduct the polls in the state by the end of the year.

JD (U) leader Ram Chandra Prasad Singh says he is in support of President's Rule and the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Amendment Bill. Meanwhile, BJD's Prasanna Acharya said that since President's rule in the state ends tomorrow, it is imperative to extend it. Singh accuses Congress leader Jairam Ramesh of taking the Kashmir issue to the United Nations, and admitting that it was "disputed" instead of holding Pakistan as aggressor.

RPI leader and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale voices support for extension for President's Rule in J&K. On a poetic note, Ramdas Athawale voices support for Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019. He says that he stands with Amit Shah, freedom of expression and also criticised the PDP's role in the state. He also said that Congress has no choice but to support the bill.

He says that Article 356 should ideally be applied in West Bengal too, but Mamata Banerjee should be allowed to "rule in the six months she has left in the state". CPM leader KK Ragesh accuses the government of alienating the people of Kashmir. "You are trying to divide people along communal lines. I stand to oppose this resolution," he says.

Home Minister Amit Shah said I have brought the proposal to extend by 6 months the President's rule in Jammu & Kashmir which is ending tomorrow. The first bill brought by the Home ministry in Parliament was the amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 extending benefits of reservation to people living along the international border in the state.

The bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on Friday, will benefit 3.5 lakh people living in the Jammu region, also comprising Sambha and Kathua. The people will get three percent reservation in jobs and educational institutions in line with those living along the Line of Control (LoC) due to hardships caused by shelling from across the border.