BJP asks Congress to clarify stand on Saifuddin Soza’s ‘internal autonomy’ remarks

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday (July 15, 2027) asked the Congress leadership to clarify whether the party supported its veteran leader Saifuddin Soz’s remarks advocating not only the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and Article 370, but also “internal autonomy”.

In a statement to the media, Mr Soz said: “…our real issue is internal autonomy and the people of Jammu and Kashmir must fight for the restoration of Article 370…as a Muslim majority state, we have decided to join India, a Hindu majority country, and we have taken the right decision to stay with India, but it must be on our own terms. Restoration of internal autonomy.”

The remarks drew a sharp reaction from MP and BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, who demanded an explanation from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi.

He said that soon after Mr Gandhi’s return from a “suspicious, undisclosed foreign trip”, Mr Soz, who is a former Union minister and former president of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, made a “very reprehensible statement against India”.

“Mr. Soz said that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is not only about restoration of statehood or Article 370 but about ‘dakhili khudmukhtari (internal autonomy)’ that is ‘sovereignty’. He also linked the demand to the Muslim majority character of Jammu and Kashmir, arguing that the Muslim majority should remain in India as extremely dangerous. assumption,” Mr. Trivedi said.

When he asked the Congress leadership if this was the party’s official stand, he demanded that it expressly reject Mr. Soza’s statement and take action against him. “If the Congress party does not do so, it will be assumed that this statement, advocating the ‘khudmukhtari’ (that is sovereignty) of the state in India, thereby advocating the partition of the country, represents its official position,” he said.

“Our policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (One India, Great India)’,” he added.

Published – 16 Jul 2026 10:27 IST