Article 370: Mixed reactions from Opposition ahead of Lok Sabha voting

New Delhi : Subtraction of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir sailed through the Rajya Sabha on Monday, leaving Congress in splits. While several prominent leaders of the Opposition voted in favour of it some remained defiant amid walkouts by several other leaders.

The bill will be presented in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Ahead of that, Lok Sabha Lawmakers met Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to ensure their pitch remains stronger in the Lower House of the Parliament.

It has been learned that Sonia Gandhi was presented with the offer of supporting or opposing the move and she said, "We will oppose it and our opposition is based on the manner in which the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the state assembly, have not been consulted."

On Monday, the bill which recognizes Jammu and Kashmir as two Union Territories sailed through Rajya Sabha with several opposition parties walking out and others siding with the government, like Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal, Jagan Reddy's YSR Congress, N Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party.

When NDTV reached Rahul Gandhi for a reaction, he said that "he cannot call a meeting on the issue as he is more chief of the party."