STATE TIMES NEWS
BILLAWAR: Continuing with his whirlwind election campaign, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Pensions and Grievances, Space and Atomic Energy, Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday held a series of public meetings at Mela, Garnari, Mangloor and Ramkot in Billawar Assembly constituency where he reiterated the demand for a separate hill district comprising Billawar-Bani-Basohli.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, even as the BJP has, in its organisational set-up, already granted district status to Billawar-Bani-Basohli, it is strange that the National Conference-Congress Government in the State refused to consider the demand while undertaking the exercise for re-organisation of administrative units. This was done deliberately to deny this hill region the benefit of improved administrative functioning, he alleged. Can there be a more striking example of blatant regional discrimination, he asked.
Billawar is known for its high literacy rate and professionals including doctors hailing from the area have made a name for themselves across the country, observed Dr Jitendra Singh but lamented that despite repeated pleas, the NC-Congress Government did not allow a Campus of Jammu University to open over here.
Singh also referred to poor road connectivity and alleged that the ruling parties in the State had never coordinated with the Center for facilitating a rail-link even though the Pathankot-Kathua rail line was not far from here.
Singh appealed for a vote in favour of BJP to liberate the Jammu and Kashmir from the menace of mis-governance, corruption and dynasty rule. He said, a vote for BJP is indeed a vote for ‘Vikas’ because there is no other political option for common man to get benefits of equal opportunity and justice as envisaged in a democracy.
Singh appealed for a vote in favour of Dr Nirmal Singh, the BJP candidate from Billawar Assembly constituency. Senior BJP leader Satish Sharma, MLA Punjab Naresh Kaushik and former MLA Himachal Pradesh Rakesh Pathania, among others accompanied the tour.