The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has made an appeal to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, saying that prolonged Central rule was a negation of Constitutional guarantees.

Harsh Dev Singh, the Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir AAP state co-ordination committee made the appeal at an event in Jammu, where several sarpanches and panches joined the Delhi-based party.

“The prolonged central rule in the erstwhile state is a negation of the Constitutional guarantees enshrined in the Constitution of India. We seek early restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and installation of an elected government in Jammu and Kashmir,” Singh said.

The Indian government had abrogated Article 370 – which accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir- on August 5, 2019, and bifurcated the state into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Several assurances by the central government of restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood at the appropriate time has failed to inspire people, the AAP leader added.

Singh also urged President Droupadi Murmu‘s intervention in the matter.

With inputs from PTI.