New Delhi: Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the Narendra Modi-led Central government for creating a political vacuum in Jammu and Kashmir by removing nationalist leaders in the valley. Gandhi lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a day after the Jammu and Kashmir administration said that it has applied provisions under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.

Gandhi took to micro-blogging site Twitter and said, "It's obvious that the government is trying to remove nationalist leaders like Farooq Abdullahji to create a political vacuum in Jammu and Kashmir that will be filled by terrorists. Kashmir can then permanently be used as a political instrument to polarise the rest of India."  He also demanded the release of Abdullah immediately.

In another tweet, the Congress leader said, "The government should stop creating space for terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and release all nationalist leaders ASAP." The Congress leader also stated that the government should stop creating space for terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir and release all nationalist leaders ASAP.

Hours before the Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a habeas corpus petition, Jammu and Kashmir administration said that it has applied provisions under the stringent PSA for 15 days on NC leader. Not just Abdullah, but several other prominent leaders in the valley have been kept under house arrest since the Central government abrogated Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti are two other known leaders who have been kept under house arrest since the scrapping of Article 370.

According to the government officials in J&K, after Abdullah was slapped with PSA, his residence was declared a subsidiary jail late on Sunday night. Farooq Abdullah is a three-term chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and a five-time parliamentarian.

Not just Gandhi, but detention of leaders in the valley has not gone down well with opposition leaders across the country. CPM leader Sitaram Yechury called the move a "cowardly afterthought" by the ruling BJP. "Farooq Abdullah has stood by India through thick and thin. Why has the PSA been imposed? This is a cowardly afterthought by the BJP government with no respect for either India or its Constitution," Yechury said. Even DMK leader MK Stalin tweeted that the move was 'excessive, arbitrary and unlawful'.