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."
Maharashtra Water Resources minister Girish Mahajan celebrated the Centre's decision by distributing sweets among party workers in Nashik and breaking into a dance with them amid the roll of drums.
He said it was possible due to the efforts of the PM Modi and MHA Amit Shah.
Similar celebrations and distribution of sweets were also witnessed in Nagpur where a large number of BJP and RSS workers assembled at Variety Square.
RSS Nagpur Mahanagar Sanghchalak Rajesh Loya, who was among the celebratory group, said everyone was happy that a long-pending demand to truly integrate the country was now fulfilled "in our own lifetime".
The government on Monday revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and proposed that the state be bifurcated into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The controversial Article 370 of Indian Constitution which was scrapped on Monday had "temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir" allowing it to have its own Constitution.
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