Bharatiya Janata Party President and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the historic step of uniting the country with the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, here on Tuesday.“You blessed us with 300 seats (in Lok Sabha), we have scrapped the Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and brought the Kashmir is into the national mainstream,” Shah boomed.

He lashed out at the opponents of the move and urged the gathering to “question” such people, and propagate the glorious achievement of striking down Article 370 in each and every home in their villages.“Now, wehave initiated several measures for the upliftment, progress and prosperity ofthe backward and downtrodden classes. We will ensure that justice is done toall our brethren who have been suffering since 70 years,” Shah said. Recalling the contributions of the great saint revered by the Vanjari community, the BJP chief said it was the blessings of saint Bhagwanbaba that his first engagement after elections were announced in Maharashtra, was in Bhagwangad for the auspicious occasion of Dassehra.

On his second visit to Bhagwangad since 2014, Shah said he would not make any political speeches but extended his warm greetings to thepeople on the occasion of Dassehra, symbolising the victory of good over evil.Earlier,Shah was accorded a rousing reception in Sawargaon – the birthplace ofBhagwanbaba – where he arrived to lend muscle to a show of strength organisedby the Munde sisters, here on Tuesday.

Shah was received by Maharashtra state minister PankajaMunde, her sister and Beed MP Pritam Munde and others, with a procession ofvehicles with people waving 370 tricolours, symbolising the recent abrogationof Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir.

On the dais, he performed an ”aarti” before an image ofBhagwanbaba and later smiled as a party activist offered a traditionalMaharashtrian ”pheta” (headgear) to him amidst huge applause in the presence ofSpeaker Haribhau Bagade and other dignitaries.

Shah specially arrived in Beed to attend the annual Dassehrarally organised by the Munde sisters, in the district which is the strongholdof the family of late Union minister Gopinath Munde.

The BJP chief”s visit has parked off intense politicalspeculation, coming at the height of campaign for the October 21 Assemblyelection in which the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance led by Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis is hoping to make a grand return.