Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday threatened to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha and state assembly elections in case the Centre does not make it’s stance clear on the validity of Article 35 A and Article 370 which have been facing legal challenge in the Supreme Court on the grounds that it discriminates among the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and rest of India.

“We will not only boycott Panchayat elections but also Lok Sabha and Assembly elections if the Centre doesn’t clear its stand on Article 35A and Article 370,” the National Conference chief was quoted as saying by ANI.

Earlier in the week, the National Conference, Jammu and Kashmir’s oldest political party, announced its decision to boycott the elections to panchayat and urban local bodies across the state.

Article 370 of the Constitution grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, while Article 35A empowers the state legislature to define the state’s “permanent residents” and their special rights and privileges.

Article 35-A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order sparked off controversies ever since a Delhi-based NGO, We the Citizens filed a petition, claiming that the state’s special status, granted by Article 35-A and Article 370 of the Constitution, discriminate against neighbouring citizens from across the country.