Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Tuesdaypraised the Centre's move of withdrawing the special status of Jammu andKashmir and bifurcating the state into two Union Territories by scrappingArticle 370 of the Indian Constitution.

Taking to Twitter, she said, "The demand for theremoval of Section 370 and Article 35 A related to the special status to Jammuand Kashmir was pending for a very long time. The BSP now expects that thepeople living there will be benefited from the Central Government's decision inthis regard."The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also claimed theBuddhist community living in Jammu and Kashmir are also happy with the Centre'sdecision of making Ladakh a separate Union Territory.

"Similarly, with Leh-Ladakh being declared as aseparate Union Territory, the long pending demand of the Buddhist community inJammu and Kashmir has been fulfilled. BSP welcomes this decision. From thisdecision, the whole country especially the followers of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar whoare Buddhists are very happy," she said in another tweet.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also came outin support of the government praising the central government's decision onJammu and Kashmir. "We support the government on its decisions on Jammuand Kashmir. We hope this will bring peace and development in the state,"he tweeted.

A resolution removing the special status of the state underArticle 370 was approved by the Rajya Sabha on Monday with Home Minister AmitShah saying the constitutional provision was the "root cause ofterrorism" in the state, and the Modi government was committed to makingthe state the most progressive in the country.

The Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019, whichstrips Jammu and Kashmir's status of a state and converts it into a UnionTerritory with legislature and carving out Ladakh region as a Union Territorywithout legislature, was passed in a division pressed by the Opposition with125 votes in favour and 61 against, and a Nationalist Congress Party memberabstained.

The revocation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir hasbeen long on the agenda of the BJP and its predecessor Jana Sangh, but theearlier BJP-led governments in 1998 and 1999 had kept the issue on thebackburner citing lack of majority.