Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that India had to wait for long for scrapping the Article 370 of the Constitution as even god willed that only a great man like Prime Minister Narendra Modi must "undertake such a pious initiative."
"Perhaps we had to wait for so long (for the scrapping of Article 370) because even God willed that a great man like Prime Minister Narendra Modi must undertake this pious initiative)," said Singh in his address to a gathering here.
Singh is the part of a delegation of Union Ministers visiting Jammu and Kashmir to interact with the people of different districts and educate them on various issues including the development work since the imposition of the President's Rule from June 2018 and after the re-orgsation of Jammu and Kashmir in last August.
Singh said that the year 2019 proved to be historic for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and will pave way for the development of the region.
"2019 was a historic year for India as a whole, a year which gave India a new dimension, a renewed confidence. 2019 was a year of redemption," he said.
Singh's address was aimed at -- what the officials said -- disseminating information about the importance of the Centre's policies for the overall development of the Union Territory and its people along with the steps taken by the government, particularly in the last five months after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile State.
The Union Minister said that the decision to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories was taken by the Centre "with due diligence and research."
( With inputs from ANI )