New Delhi

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday lauded centre's decision of scrapping Article 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir and said that the move will facilitate the development of Jammu and Kashmir. 

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"No investment is happening in Jammu and Kashmir," Sitharaman said, adding that "with this move, the true development and integration of Jammu and Kashmir will happen". 

The finance minister said that the entire nation had been waiting for this for the last 70 years. 

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"Even our manifesto mentioned the need to abrogate Article 370, so it is not something we brought out suddenly like a rabbit from a magic hat," she said. 

The government on Monday announced the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. While Jammu and Kashmir will be a Union Territory with a legislature, Ladakh has been converted into a separate Union Territory sans legislature. The Union Territory of Ladakh will be administered by Delhi.

Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of Parliament where he announced the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution of India which gave special status to the state and its residents and tabled a resolution for the same.

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A notification issued by the government, shortly after Shah's announcement, was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind and said that the state is being restructured.