Patna: In a stern warning to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the chief minister of Bihar state has strongly opposed the idea of scrapping Article 370 of the country’s Constitution — which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The BJP is a key ally of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who heads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the state,

Kumar also heads the Janata Dal United party (JD-U).

Calls to do away with Article 370 have gained momentum in the aftermath of the deadly Pulwama region last week, which left 49 soldiers dead.

However, the chief minister warned against ending the special privileges granted to J&K.

“The [central] government must initiate all necessary measures to wipe out terrorism and action must be taken against all those involved in nefarious acts but I am totally against scrapping Article 370 in the name of containing terror activities,” Kumar told guests at a function in Patna on Thursday evening.

He added there should not be any debate over this issue as the provision of Article 370 has been enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

“Please go ahead and take whatever action is required, but this doesn’t mean you will touch the topic of Article 370,” the chief minister said.

He appealed to citizens of the rest of India not to have a “wrong impression” about Kashmir and the people of Kashmir.

“The people of Kashmir too are shocked and agitated like us,” he said, adding there shouldn’t be any politics over the Pulwama attack.

Kumar’s stance is in sharp contrast to many BJP leaders who have been publicly calling for a repeal of Article 370.

The latest to make this demand was Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh.

“This [repealing the article] is the need of the hour and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should do it,” Singh told journalists in the Aligarh town of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

He added, “Kashmir is a very important and integral part of our nation, but this Article 370 makes it detached from the country.”

Such observations come even as a plea challenging the validity of this article is pending for hearing in the Supreme Court.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S.K. Kaul, announced last week that it would hear the PIL filed by a BJP leader on April 2.

As per the report the hearing of the case pushed back by the court in view of requests from the Centre as well the state governments which said the political situation in the state was sensitive.

The plea, as per media reports, says the special provision was “temporary” in nature at the time of framing of Indian Constitution and the Article 370 (3) had lapsed with the dissolution of J & K Constituent Assembly on January 26, 1957.