Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday released the BJP’s manifesto for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections and asserted that Article 370 has become history and will never make a comeback in the Union territory.

At the release of BJP’s Sankalp Patra, Jammu and Kashmir party unit chief Ravinder Raina and other party leaders were also present.

Addressing the party supporters, Shah said, since independence, the Union Territory has been important for the BJP party. “We have always tried to keep this land intact with India,” he added.

Shah said his party believes that J&K has always been part of India and it will remain so. Till 2014, J&K always remained in the shadow of separatism and terrorism, he added.

Asserting that all previous governments dealt with the State with a policy of appeasement, Shah said whenever the history of Jammu and Kashmir is written, these ten years after 2014 will be marked as a golden period for the state.

Retorting sharply at Congress and National Conference, the senior BJP leader said: “I have seen the National Conference agenda. I have also seen Congress silently supporting NC’s agenda. But, I want to say to the country that Article 370 is history, it will never return, and we won’t let it happen. Article 370 was the thing that gave weapons and stones in the hands of the youth.”

The Union Home Minister said his government has decided that to bring ‘Ma Samman Yojana’ to give Rs 18,000 to the eldest lady of every family, each year. He added, “We will give two free cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme, per year. Under Pragati Shiksha Yojana, we will provide Rs 3,000 to college students per year, as a travelling allowance.”

Speaking on the party’s manifesto having a rehabilitation scheme for Kashmiri Pandits, Shah asserted that the scheme will be very detailed, and the party will look for complete rehabilitation.

Many Kashmiri Pandits and people from the Sikh community who left when the terrorism was at its peak were forced to sell their properties, adding, that the government has already started working in this regard.

Shah said, “Either returning their properties or providing the amount for their properties. We are towards the completion of rehabilitation of 6000 people.”

The Congress on Friday accused Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch of corruption saying she received rental income of Rs 2.16 crore from an entity affiliated with a company that the capital markets regulator was investigating for various cases, including that of insider trading.

Addressing a press conference, the Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said that between 2018 and 2024, Buch, as a whole-time member and later chairperson of the SEBI, had been receiving rental income amounting to Rs 2.16 crore from Carol Info Services Limited, a company affiliated to Wockhardt Limited.

Wockhardt Limited was being investigated by SEBI for various cases, including that of insider trading during 2023, Khera said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters in Delhi.

The Congress leader asserted that this was an outright case of corruption that invoked conflict of interest, violating sections 4, 7 and 8 of SEBI’s 2008 code on conflict of interests for members of its board.

Khera further informed that the SEBI chairperson was appointed on March 2, 2022, by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which the Prime Minister heads. Was her appointment cleared on the condition that she could maintain her previous financial relationships, provided she acted in line with the wishes of the prime minister and his close associates, the Congress leader asked.

He pointed out that the previous SEBI chairpersons went to great lengths to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, both in their roles at Sebi and in their earlier positions.

“For instance, M Damodaran sold his 50 SBI shares when he took over UTI in 2001, and CB Bhave recused himself from all matters involving the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), where he was formerly chairman. In contrast, Buch merely transferred her investments to her spouse, which raises concerns about credibility,” Khera said.

He asked why there was no effort to verify whether Buch would follow these established standards. “Or was this lack of scrutiny part of a mutually beneficial arrangement?” Khera asked.

“If the head of the regulatory body is compromised, then that head becomes pliable. Perhaps that was the objective,” the Congress leader said. Khera said he was challenging the SEBI chief to come out and deny the charges against her.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the question really had to be asked of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and no one else on how much more evidence was needed to show the collapse of transparency and integrity, as far as the capital markets regulator was concerned.

“By the NSE’s data, there are now 10 crore Indians with unique PANs who have some form of investment in this market. Don’t they deserve better? Why does he not move? What is he afraid of?” Ramesh said in a post on X.

On Friday, the Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and the State government on a plea of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) against a Patna High Court order setting aside the amended reservation laws in Bihar that had led to hiking of quotas for Dalits, tribals and backward classes from 50 per cent to 65 percent.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate P Wilson, appearing for RJD, that the plea needed to be decided. “Issue notice and tag with the pending pleas,” the CJI said.

The top court on July 29 this year, while hearing other similar 10 pleas, had refused to stay the High Court order that set aside the amended reservation laws in Bihar that enabled the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar government to increase quotas from 50 per cent to 65.

The bench, however, had agreed to hear the petitions of the Bihar government against the verdict. The State government has also moved the top court against the High Court judgement.

The High Court, in its June 20 verdict, declared that the amendments, passed unanimously by the State’s bicameral legislature in November last year, were ultra vires of the Constitution, bad in law and violative of the equality clause.

A division bench of the High Court had allowed a bunch of petitions challenging the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) (Amendment) Act, 2023 and the Bihar (in admission in educational institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023, while leaving the parties to suffer their respective costs.

In an 87-page judgement, the High Court had made it clear that it saw no extenuating circumstance enabling the State to breach the 50-per cent cap on reservations laid down by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case.