The Congress on Thursday attacked the Centre over its decision to send 36 Union ministers to Jammu and Kashmir, questioning the need for this if everything was normal in the Union Territory.

“[Union Home Minister] Amit Shah says all is normal in Kashmir,” Congress leader Kapil Sibal tweeted. “If so, why send 36 propagandists to Kashmir? Why not allow non-propagandists to go and understand the situation prevailing there?”

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari tweeted that sending 36 ministers to Kashmir was a sign of panic, not normalcy. “Abrogating Article 370 was a blunder & no quick fixes will work, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again,” he said quoting a famous poem.

A group of Union ministers will visit Jammu and Kashmir from January 18 to January 24 to spread awareness about the alleged positive impact of the Centre’s decision to revoke the special constitutional status of the erstwhile state. This will be the first visit by Union ministers since the government abrogated the region’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5 and divided it into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Shah wanted all members of the Union Council of Ministers to pay a visit to Jammu and Kashmir, with the “objective of disseminating information about the importance of the government policies with regard to the overall development of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and its people along with the steps taken by the government of India in this direction particularly in the last 5 months”, a letter sent by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said.