In Poll-Bound Maharashtra, Amit Shah Keeps Focus On Jammu And Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir recurred as an election issue in Maharashtra as BJP chief Amit Shah held his second rally in the state today. The BJP chief was campaigning in Beed, an area that has seen four consecutive droughts, but the focus was on nationalism and the abrogation of Article 370, which gave the state a special status.
Beed is represented in the state assembly by Pankaja Munde, the daughter of the late Gopinath Munde, one of the BJP’s hugely popular leaders in the area. Pankaja Munde has carried forward her father’s legacy. She represents Parli in the Assembly while her sister Dr. Pritam Munde is the Member of Parliament from Beed. This time Pankaja Munde faces a challenge from her cousin Dhananjay Munde who is contesting on a NCP ticket.

Jammu and Kashmir has been a recurrent theme in this round of state elections. Last month, at a public meeting to explain how the government has executed its decision and reasons for it, Amit Shah had blamed former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the formation of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), and said it was because of the “untimely ceasefire” declared in 1948.

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