Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former deputy PMLK Advani on Monday praised the government's move to scrap Article 370 in Jammuand Kashmir.

Highlighting how scrapping of Article 370 had been at thecore of BJP's objectives since the days of Jan Sangh, Advani said that it is ahistoric decision made by the current government under Prime Minister NarendraModi. "I congratulate the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the HomeMinister Shri Amit Shah for this historic initiative and pray for peace,prosperity and progress in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh," he said. "I amhappy with the Government’s decision to revoke Article 370 and I believe thatit is a bold step towards strengthening national integration. The scrapping ofArticle 370 has been a part of BJP’s core ideology since the days of JanSangh."

The announcement on Article 370 was made in Parliament byShah amid uproar by opposition parties. The decision is in line with what theBJP had promised in its manifesto before the Lok Sabha election 2019. Whilescrapping Article 370 was done by a presidential order, there is also a move toreorganise the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs with two LieutenantGovernors. While Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature, Ladakh will be a UTwithout a legislature. The J&K Reorganisation Bill is likely to beintroduced in Parliament on Tuesday.