Ghulam Nabi Azad stopped at Srinagar airport

Congress lawmaker and leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad who was on way to the Valley was stopped at Srinagar airport on Thursday.

Azad’s visit come days after the Centre revoked the provisions of Article 370, which gave special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir and also divided the Himalayan state into two Union Territories.

The Rajya Sabha member was accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir. Before departing for Srinagar, Azad in his comments on the pictures and videos of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s interaction with locals in Kashmir’s Shopian district, said “anyone can be brought along with money”.

NSA Doval on Wednesday visited to the militancy-affected south Kashmir and was seen eating food on a footpath outside closed shops and talking to locals. The pictures and videos went viral on social media.

“Paise dekar aap kisiko bhi saath le sakte ho (Anyone can be brought along with money),” Azad said when asked about Doval’s visit.

Responding to Azad’s remark, the BJP back and demanded his apology, saying that the remarks could be used by Pakistan on global forums.

“Ghulam Nabi Azad’s comments are unfortunate. I condemn it strongly... when the NSA visits the state and meets and eats with the people of the area, the Congress says that we have paid them money? “These accusations come from the people of Pakistan. This is not expected from a big political party like the Congress. How can you make these accusations? This statement will be used by Pakistan on global forums. He should immediately apologise for the comments,” BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told a news channel.