Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday sounded the bugle for the Maharashtra Assembly polls by making removal of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status under 370 of the Constitution as a major plank for the State Assembly polls to be held in Maharashtra.
Addressing a public rally organised at Solapur in western Maharashtra to mark the conclusion of the second phase of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ statewide tour “Mahajanadesh Yatra”, Shah dared former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and NCP founder-president to come clean on whether they supported or not the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370. “The people of Maharashtra want to know as to what is the stance of the Congress and NCP with regard to the removal of Article 370. Do they want the terrorism to continue unabated in the country? Do they want Pakistani terrorist continue to infiltrate into the country and engineer acts of violence?”.
Linking the abrogation of Article 370 with the Maharashtra Assembly polls due in October this year, Shah said: “After the abrogation of Article 370, the first elections are being held in Maharashtra. Rahul Gandhi says the annulment of Article 370 was a very big blunder. Let the people of Maharashtra decide if it is abrogation of Article 370 was a blunder. Will you the people decide? . Rahul Gandhi has to fight the State Assembly polls on Article 370. We have nothing to worry on this count, because the people of this country are standing by Narendra Modi like a hard rock.”
Hitting out at Gandhi for his statement that there had been violence in Kashmir ever since the abrogation of Article 370, Shah said: “Rahul Gandhi has said that violence has broken out Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. I would like to tell you that after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 an 6, not single bullet has been fired nor has a single tear gas shell been burst. No one has been killed in any untoward incident.”
Shah said that the Gandhi’s statement there was no peace in Kashmir after the removal of Article 370 was being used by Pakistani Parliament to criticise India. “Rahul Gandhi’s statement is being used by Pakistani foreign minister to make a petition in the UN. I would like to ask Rahulji as to which country you are speaking. Pakistan is saying the same thing that you are saying. Should we not ask as to why Rahjuji is making such statements?,” he said.
The Union Home Minister slammed the former Congress president for not standing by the Government in matters relating to national security. “Whenever there are issues of national security, the Congress takes a different stand than the Government. I would like to ask him if it is not correct on the part of all the Opposition parties to raise above their party affiliations and stand with the Government on issues of national security.
There are so many issues to fight the elections. Let us fight it out politically in elections. No one is afraid of you. But, when it comes to the national security, why should there be difference of opinion? When we were in the Opposition for many years, we always supported the Government on issues of national security,” he said.
