Maharashtra Assembly polls: Modi targets Congress over Article 370, steers clear of Sharad Pawar in his speech

Modi said the Congress with its allies is trying to bring back Article 370, which the NDA government removed in Jammu and Kashmir. “They ruled the country for seven decades but could not execute the Constitution written by Babasaheb Ambedkar in Jammu and Kashmir. But we executed it by removing Article 370 and brought peace by hoisting the Tricolour. The country will never accept bringing back Article 370. People of Maharashtra will also oppose it,” Modi said.

“In Karnataka, the Congress made false promises and, after coming to power, they forgot them,” Modi said. “There are only scams coming out of Karnataka. The Congress is looting the people there and using the money for the Maharashtra election. We have to save Maharashtra for which we have to keep the Congress away,” he added.

He repeated the earlier challenge to the Shiv Sena (UBT) to try and make Rahul Gandhi praise Balasaheb Thackeray and give a speech in favour of Veer Savarkar.

Incidentally, the PM did not mention Sharad Pawar or his party in his election speech unlike his Lok Sabha election speech, which focused on attacking Sharad Pawar. Taking a jibe at Pawar, Modi had referred to him as “bhatakti aatma” (wandering soul) and faced stiff criticism from the Opposition for it. The NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar too had distanced itself from the comment.

The NCP (SP) along with Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) performed better by winning 30 of the 48 seats while the NDA got just 17 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Man raises slogans seeking Maratha quota

Grabbing the opportunity to raise the demand for Maratha reservation, a person sitting in the VVIP section at the public rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday raised slogans seeking quota for the community during the PM’s speech.

The person, wearing a yellow jacket, was sitting along with other dignitaries, mainly BJP office-bearers, and suddenly stood up and raised slogans for Maratha reservation. “We will take reservations for the Maratha community,” the person said, looking agitated.

He was calmed by local BJP party leaders and police. He, however, again tried to grab attention by shouting slogans and had to be taken out of the rally by police.