Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday questioned the Opposition leaders led by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi visiting Jammu and Kashmir, saying it would provide the Centre and the Governor an opportunity to politicise the issue.

She said the Opposition leaders should have waited for the situation to become normal before visiting the State.

It would take time for things to turn normal in J&K after the scrapping of its special status granted by Article 370, said the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

“It is better to wait a bit, even the honourable court has opined that,” Ms. Mayawati said.

“In such a situation, leaders of the Congress and other parties going to Kashmir without permission, was it not a step from them to provide the Centre and the Governor an opportunity to do politics,” she asked.

Her remarks came after Mr. Gandhi and others leaders, who landed in Srinagar on Saturday to take stock of the situation in J&K, were sent back to Delhi from the airport.

Before going there, it would have been better had they given it a proper thought, said Ms. Mayawati.

The BSP chief also reiterated her party’s stand to support the Centre on scrapping the special status of J&K, saying it was because of Bhimrao Ambedkar’s stand on the issue.

“It is well-known that Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was always in favour of the country’s equality, unity and integration. For this reason, he was not at all in favour of a separate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir State,” she said.

It was due to this “special reason” that the BSP supported the scrapping of Article 370 in Parliament, Ms. Mayawati said.