The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a petitionchallenging the constitutional validity of Article 370 of the Constitution. Athree-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Rajan Gogoi agreed to hear the pleaafter advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay made a mention before it.

Article 370 of the Indian constitution gives special statusto Jammu and Kashmir and limits the central government’s power to make laws forthe state.

BJP had, on April 8, promised in its manifesto to strikedown Article 370 of the Constitution. “We reiterate our position since the timeof the Jan Sangh to the abrogation of Article 370,” read the manifesto. Themanifesto added that in the last five years, the Centre had made “all necessaryefforts” to ensure peace in Jammu and Kashmir through decisive actions and firmpolicy.

The Congress and other opposition parties as well as thestate parties opposed the contention of the BJP in connection with this.