STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: With just one day left for the election campaign to end in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today brushed all the misgivings and categorically stated that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is firm on its ”core” ideological issues and has neither given up nor deviated from any of them.
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of parliament session, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Jammu and Kashmir is the ideological base of BJP and the erstwhile Bharatiya Jan Sangh and observed it was from here that our “founding father” Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee had launched his mission for total integration of the State with the Indian Union and had also sacrificed his life in a Kashmir prison. We owe it to the legacy of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and the sacrifices of hundreds of Praja Parishad activists who devoted their lives for the cause of Jammu and Kashmir and we, the present generation of BJP “Karyakartas”, have inherited the responsibility of living up to the ideals of these great patriots, he added.
Referring to constant regional discrimination and injustice meted out to the people of Jammu, Dr Singh said, this has unfortunately led to a defeatist and slavish mentality in the region which has adversely affected the growth and progress of our youth. BJP is committed to undo the step-motherly approach towards Jammu by successive State governments and ensure that the people of the region get equal opportunities in education and employment and at the same time, do not suffer from the psychological complex of being treated as second-class citizens in their own State, he added.
While BJP stands for equitable development of all regions regardless of community, caste or creed, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the party will, at the same time, ensure that no section of society in any of the three regions of the State has to be subservient to the ruling hierarchy from another region.
Dr Singh said, while “justice to all and appeasement to none” will be our core guiding principle, we will at the same time ensure that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is not deprived of the enormous benefits of progress and growth available to other States of the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has special concern for the development of Jammu and Kashmir and in order to get the maximum benefit of the Central funds and assistance available to us, it is essential to have a State government which is accountable to each and every penny provided by the Centre and is, at the same time, capable of emulating the model of governance established by Narendra Modi.
When asked why BJP had not declared its chief ministerial candidate like other parties, Dr Jitendra sarcastically quipped “The answer is simple. In parties like National Conference, PDP or Congress, chief ministers are born in homes of certain “dynasties” while in BJP chief ministers grow up from the cadre and anybody can become a chief minister based on calibre and acceptability”.
Dr. Singh said the Assembly results on 23rd will prove that BJP has an important role to play in the future dispensation in the State. BJP in J&K is no longer going to be a party of mere protests or Dharnas but it shall be a party with an essential role in decision making, he added.