Kolkata, August 14: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the process of scrapping Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was 'wrong'. Earlier, Indian National Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also termed the manner of abrogation of Article 370 'unconstitutional'. The Trinamool Congress supremo said that she is worried about the whereabouts of three former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir who are under house arrest for past few days.

"I don't want to discuss much about Article 370 but the process of scrapping was wrong. Don't I have the right to know the whereabouts of three former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir? They were elected by the people," West Bengal Chief Minister said. Jammu and Kashmir Bifurcated, Article 370 Scrapped: Amit Shah Leads The Charge From Introducing Resolutions to Countering Opposition, Overshadows PM Narendra Modi.

"Since the last 8-10 days, no one in the country knows where they (CMs) are? If I ask this question today, will I be arrested by CBI or ED? I still believe peaceful negotiation could have been done by discussing the issue with all the parties," Banerjee said.

Tweet by ANI:

She also said that one of the Jammu and Kashmir CMs spoke to her a day before the revocation of Article 370. "A day before everything happened, one of the former CMs called me saying, 'we are very scared, will you stand with us if we face any trouble?' Unfortunately, I couldn't stand in solidarity with them. Though not physically, our mind is always with them."

Meanwhile, the political leaders like former Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah are under house arrest as a 'preventive measure', said a government official. They will be released after the forces evaluate the ground situation in the valley. Around 400 political leaders are under detention in Jammu and Kashmir.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 14, 2019 10:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).