STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain on Sunday asked terrorists to leave guns and pick up a pen as the Narendra Modi government is committed to take Jammu and Kashmir to new heights of development.
However, he warned those who did not shun the path of violence to get prepared to be wiped “all-out”.
“J&K is the crown of India and our government is sincere to take the development in the region to the top as well. We will ensure electricity, water and better roads and no load shedding and darkness which is the hallmark of Congress and Gupkar gang,” Hussain, who is the BJP national spokesperson, told reporters here.
The former Union minister, who has been camping in the Kashmir valley for the last 15 days in connection with the ongoing District Development Council (DDC) elections, reached Jammu on Sunday morning. He is expected to campaign for the party candidates in different areas, including Doda, for the next three days before returning to the valley.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants a pen in the hands of the local youth Leave the gun and pick up the pen as anyone indulging in terrorism will face (operation) all out,” he said, lauding security agencies for busting a plan of terrorists to carry out a major strike in the country.
He said the Modi Government is fighting against terrorism and those indulging in dividing the people.
Describing as “encouraging” the response of the people to the party’s campaign in the valley, Hussain said he held a “public meeting in a village which is the native place of Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen second-in-command Amir Khan on Saturday”.
“We unfurled the BJP flag in the village and thousands of people attended the rally,” he said.
“The entire route from Srinagar to Anantnag was decorated with BJP flags. I talked to the people at the grass-roots level during my visit to nook and corner of the valley and they want development and better future for their children,” he said, adding that it is only BJP which can fulfil their aspirations.
Hussain said the BJP is getting support from everyone across the Union Territory.
“The people in Jammu have always been with the party and BJP is living in their hearts. Our aim is to make J-K the tourism hub of the world,” the BJP leader said, adding the BJP government would take the UT forward and ensure enough employment opportunities to the local youth.
Referring to the battery of Union ministers flocking to Jammu and Kashmir to campaign for the DDC elections which are being held for the first time in the UT, Hussain said his party has taken this election seriously.
“Our rivals have raised objections as to why BJP leaders, including Union ministers are coming to J-K to campaign for DDC polls. I want to tell them that we are all workers of the BJP, whatever the position in the government or in the party. We are workers and are on a campaign trail to make lotus bloom everywhere,” he said.
He asked why leaders of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) are not moving around.
“They are not interested (in campaigning) and just indulge in making allegations. They should stop misleading the public,” Shahnawaz said.
He said the BJP aims to implement the three-tier Panchayati Raj System in Jammu and Kashmir.
This election of DDC, we are seeking votes for development, dynastic free and corruption free J-K. We are focused on this,” he added.
Hussain expressed hope of an early resolution to the ongoing farm agitation against the recently introduced agricultural laws in the country and said his party has full sympathy with the agitating peasantry.
He, however, claimed the farmers are being misled by some vested interests.
The farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital against the three recently enacted agricultural laws that the government has been saying will give farmers more freedom and avenues to sell their produce and raise their income. He said, several rounds of talks have been held with them (farmers) and we are hopeful that the issue will be resolved soon. We are living in a democracy and have not snatched the right of protest from anyone.
He said the BJP government has full sympathy with the protesting farmers and is holding talks with them.
The farmers are ours we are theirs. The way our government has worked for the benefits of the farmer over the past many years, no government had done, he said.
We are working to ensure doubling their income, and have initiated various schemes for their welfare and even transferred money into their accounts which had happened for the first time in the country, he said.
Without identifying anyone, he said the BJP understands that the protesting farmers are being “misled” but “we will be able to convey the right message to them. Already several rounds of talks have been held with them”.
Asked about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterating his baking to the agitating farmers, Hussain said the country should not have interfered in internal affairs of India.
“The Congress itself is in trouble. The one who is in trouble should take care of themselves first, he said, responding to a question that the Congress was suggesting BJP’s policies were troubling farmers.
They have got 19 seats out of the 70 (they contested) in the recently held Bihar (Assembly) polls and had hardly got seats in the local elections in Hyderabad.
The Congress is used to raising questions on every issue. They talked about demonetization and got the response from UP electorate during assembly elections at that time, he said.
It is the Congress which is in deep trouble and not the farmers. Do not take the party seriously as we are also not taking them seriously, he said.
He said, The Congress is as good as dead. It is against our culture to speak (about somebody dead). There is no internal democracy in the party and anyone speaking against it is shunted, he said.
He said 23 Congress leaders including former J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad were sidelined for speaking out against the party leadership recently.
Most of the Congress leaders are slaves of Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka. Anyone who talks of internal democracy in the party is forced to shut up, he said.
