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Shiv Sena to enter the fray in J&K

"The party will enter its candidates in 12 seats without forging any alliance with other parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party," the Shiv Sena's north India rajya sampark pramukh (public relations chief), Lieutenant General (retd) Prem Nath Hoon, told a press conference in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

The Shiv Sena will fight the assembly polls in J&K with "indomitable resolve" to save the motherland from terrorism and subversive activities, he said.

Gen Hoon said the decision to jump into the electoral arena in J&K was taken at a recent meeting held under the chairmanship of Thackeray along with other party leaders.

He said that though the party would boycott the election in the Kashmir valley, it would contest the Ganderbal seat, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah's constituency, as a symbolic fight.

He claimed that the party would ensure that the names of all the displaced Kashmiri Pandits were included in the electoral rolls.

Rejecting the stand taken by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Gen Hoon said his party was not in favour of partitioning J&K. Instead, he demanded the abolition of Article 370 with immediate effect, and said the state government must take meaningful steps to end cross-border terrorism.

PTI

Jammu and Kashmir Elections 2002: The complete coverage

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