Welcoming verdict on Article 370, Uddhav Thackeray asks about 'full Kashmir'

Mumbai: Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict upholding the BJP-led NDA government’s decision to Article 370 which accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray hoped that the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir will be is merged into Kashmir before the elections.

“We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court…that (abrogation of Article 370 of Constitution) has been our stand,” Thackeray told reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Nagpur, where the winter session of Maharashtra legislature is underway.

Thackeray also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he asked whether the latter can give guarantee of safe return of the Kashmiri Pandits to their parent state.

He said that the elections should be held in Jammu and Kashmir as the apex court has directed by 30 September next year. “However, before elections, if PoK is included, then this exercise can be held in the entire Kashmir,” he said.