Amit Shah launches BJP’s Jharkhand yatra, says Article 370 move put Pakistan in its place

Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah said on Wednesday in Jamtara, Jharkhand, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had shown Pakistan its place by abrogating Articles 370 and 35A and had established Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India. He was speaking after launching the BJP’s ‘Johar Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ ahead of assembly elections in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Haryana.

Attack on the Congress

Shah said Rahul Gandhi should tell voters in the three poll-bound states whether he supported the decision. He said the BJP had always wanted Article 370 removed and asked why the Congress had a “stomach ache” over it. He also criticised the party for demanding proof after the surgical strike.

He said BJP leaders had backed the government on key issues even in opposition, citing Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s support for Indira Gandhi after the Bangladesh war and his presentation of India’s case on Kashmir at the United Nations at P V Narasimha Rao’s request.

Claims on Jharkhand’s development

Shah said Vajpayee had created Jharkhand, which was separated from Bihar in 2000, and that Modi had nurtured it. Recalling that earlier Arjun Munda-led governments fell for lack of a majority, he said voters had delivered a stable government under Raghubar Das in 2014. Citing the BJP’s win in 12 of the state’s 14 Lok Sabha seats, he credited “double engine” government and said the state was close to being free of Naxalism.

He listed work on power, housing, health, toilets, gas connections and drinking water, two Paharia battalions and nearly 70 Eklavya schools. He said the 13th Finance Commission gave Jharkhand 55 thousand and 200 crore, while the 14th gave 2.5 times more, one lakh and forty-five thousand crore.

Arjun Munda, the Union minister for tribal affairs, attended along with Chief Minister Raghubar Das and Nand Kishore Yadav, a Bihar minister who is the BJP’s Jharkhand in-charge. Shah said the yatra would cover all 81 assembly seats and predicted a BJP majority.

What happened next

In the 2019 Jharkhand election, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won 30 seats, the BJP 25 and the Congress 16, and Hemant Soren became Chief Minister. In Haryana the BJP won 40 seats and Manohar Lal Khattar remained Chief Minister, while in Maharashtra the BJP won 105 seats but Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena became Chief Minister in November 2019 with NCP and Congress support.

See also: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and elections.

Originally published on 18 September 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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