Maha: CM, Gadkari hail decision to scrap Article 370 in J-K

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the Centre's decision to abolish Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir had foiled the attempts of "Pakistan and the then Congress government" to "separate" the state from India.

Speaking in Chandrapur during his Mahajanadesh Yatra (mega mandate march), Fadnavis said Prime Minister Modi and Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah must be congratulated for what he said was "benchmark decision".

"The BJP government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has foiled the attempts of Pakistan and the then Congress government to separate Jammu and Kashmir from India by revoking Article 370," he told a gathering.

He further claimed the move to abolish Article 370, which gave special rights to J-K, would destroy Pakistan's plans to wrest the state from India.

In Nagpur, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said the government had created history, and termed the move fulfillment of Jan Sangh founder Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee's dream of "freeing Kashmir from the chains of Article 370".

Tweeting that it had created history, Gadkari said, "The government has fulfilled the dream of Syama Prasad Mookerjee by freeing Kashmir out of the chains of Article 370. This decision reflects the government's will towards national unity."