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    Assembly polls: Article 370 talk finds few takers in Maharashtra interiors

    Synopsis

    Unlike the Balakot strikes, the abrogation of Article 370 didn’t seem to have made much of an impact before the Maha polls. Here the BJP may have gone overboard during its campaign pitch, but people want it to address their local grievances.

    BJP---PTIPTI
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves at his supporters during an election campaign rally ahead of Maharashtra Assembly polls, in Pune
    AHMEDNAGAR/LATUR: The BJP’s strategy to hammer home the point that the Congress and NCP’s opposition to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir was not in national interest seems to have drawn quite an underwhelming response, especially in the interiors of Maharashtra, which is just a few days away from Assembly elections.

    Unlike the Balakot air strikes, the abrogation of Article 370 didn’t seem to have made much of an impact before the Assembly polls. Most people ET spoke to were either not sure of what Article 370 was all about, or they didn’t seem to really care. So, while the BJP may have gone overboard on the gains of Article 370 during its campaign pitch, people wanted their longpending, local grievances addressed. “How does it matter to me — we are more concerned about the lack of water in our village,” said 62-year-old Dattu Mane, a resident of Takle Kandeshwari village in Ahmednagar.

    The situation is similar in other parts of western Maharashtra where people want issues such as lack of water, poor infrastructure and other problems solved. “If the entire country is happy, we are happy too (on abrogation of Article 370), but what about issues like water, money for our agricultural produce? We want the government to spell out what it will do to get us the minimum price for our crops,” said Vikrant Yewle from Karjat in Ahmednagar district.


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