The Congress statement, issued late on October 28, was an attempt to distance itself from the comments made by senior leader P. Chidambaram who reiterated his stated position on greater autonomy. Also Read Kashmir is nearly lost, says ChidambaramThe statement was a response to a comment made by Mr. Chidambaram at Rajkot during an interaction with businessmen and intellectuals. Allowing greater autonomy would be in the letter and spirit of article 370 of the Constitution that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Also Read Chidambaram suggests solution for Kashmir crisesIn election season, the BJP latched on to the statement and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the statement went against national interest. Referring to news reports, Mr. Chidamabaram tweeted on October 29, “BJP should read before criticising.”

Source: The Hindu October 29, 2017 01:58 UTC