Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Had Indira Gandhi been alive, BJP would have been nowhere: Congress leader Patole

Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Thursday said had former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi been alive today, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would have nowhere politically.

Speaking to PTI Videos, Patole criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his comments at a poll rally in Maharashtra on Wednesday that Article 370, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, won’t be restored even if Indira Gandhi, who died in 1984, comes down from heaven.

Article 370 of the Constitution was scrapped by the BJP-led central government in August 2019.

The Maharashtra Congress president sought to know what has been achieved by nullifying the contentious constitutional provision.

''Shah should stop making such remarks. What have you achieved from abrogation of Article 370? You were able to conduct assembly elections (in J&K) after 10 years. Terrorism hasn't stopped and soldiers continue to be martyred every day. Instead Shah should tell people whether the BJP has fulfilled promises made in 2014 and 2019 polls," Patole said.

He remarked that had Indira Gandhi, a Congress stalwart who served as PM for more than 15 years, been alive today, the BJP would have been nowhere.

The BJP is scared of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, a trenchant critic of the saffron party, and sees him even in their dreams, Patole said in reply to a question.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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