Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Monday hit back at Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, a day after the latter said Malik should be made the BJP leader in the newly declared Union Territory, for "his comments and statements are like those of BJP leaders."
Speaking to news agency ANI, the J&K governor said with his statement, Chowdhury had "buried his party in a grave."
"What do I say about his knowledge? I am just doing my work with utmost devotion; I don't care about these allegations," he said.
On Sunday, Chowdhury had lashed out at Malik saying, "Jammu and Kashmir Governor should be made the president of the state BJP unit. His comments and statements are like those of BJP leaders. The way he talks doesn't uphold the integrity of the constitutional office of Governor."
"Schools and colleges are closed in Jammu and Kashmir. People are not allowed to speak. Those who want to visit there are not being allowed to go to Jammu and Kashmir," the Congress leader said.
Chowdhury's comments came a day after a delegation of opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, was stopped at Srinagar airport by the authorities and sent back to Delhi.
Opposition leaders, who had flown to take stock of the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, alleged they were detained at the airport in Srinagar in an "unconstitutional" and "undemocratic' manner".
Talking to media persons after they were sent back by the administration, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury had said they have written to District Magistrate of Budgam stating their detention at Srinagar airport was 'undemocratic and unconstitutional.'
The delegation comprising leaders of opposition parties like Congress, CPI, DMK, RJD, TMC, NCP, and JDS had gone to assess the ground realities weeks after the Centre abrogated Article 370.
Senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad Congress, Anand Sharma, Sitaram Yechury, Sharad Yadav, Manoj Jha, Majeed Memon, Tiruchi Shiva, and D Raja were also the part of the delegation.
Before leaving from Delhi airport, the leaders had insisted they were going only to assess the ground reality and not to create any disturbance.
(With inputs from ANI)
