The Supreme Court verdict on Monday upholding the abrogation of Article 370 was received with quiet resignation by the INDIA alliance.

Having anticipated such a judgment, the focus of the INDIA combine appeared to be more on the restoration of statehood to Jammu & Kashmir and the conduct of early elections.

Though some of the Opposition parties had initially opposed the abrogation of Article 370 when the government brought in the bill in a surprise move on August 5, 2019, or abstained from the voting, most including the Congress had subsequently nuanced their position, accepting that it is fait accompli.

The Left parties remained the exception, with the CPM politburo billing the verdict as “disturbing” with serious implications for the federal structure of the Constitution. “The verdict declares that J&K is like any other state in the Indian Union, thereby depriving it of even the special features granted to the north-eastern states and some others under various clauses of Article 371,’’ it said in a statement.

The All India Forward Bloc said the verdict is a “repudiation of the country’s age-old federal principles” and “subverts the principles of state reorganisation” as it empowers the Centre to divide and reorganise states without consulting them.

Uddhav Thackeray, who leads his own faction in the Shiv Sena, welcomed the verdict and called for early elections in Jammu and Kashmir while asking the Modi government when Kashmiri Pandits will be able to return to the Valley.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which had supported the bill in 2019, remained silent till late in the night.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said now that the Supreme Court has given its verdict, it is binding on everyone.