‘J&K heads for historic assembly polls under national flag, Constitution’
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The Jammu region would decide the formation of a government in the assembly poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday while appealing to the people to ensure the victory of the BJP’s candidates in the elections.
Addressing a workers’ rally at Paloura in Jammu North Assembly Segment, Shah introduced the BJP’s candidates from 11 seats of Jammu districts that are going to polls in the last phase and said, “We have to not only defeat their opponents but also ensure that they lose their security deposits.”
Union Minister and J&K election in-charge G Kishan Reddy, BJP National General Secretary and J&K Incharge Tarun Chugh, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, MP Jugal Kishore and other senior BJP leaders were present on the stage
He said the BJP will fight the elections with its might and nobody should have any doubt about its victory.
“The time when someone else was deciding whose government will be formed (in J&K) has gone. Now Jammu will decide the formation of government,” Shah said at the rally before concluding his two-day election campaign in the Union Territory.
“(PM) Modi restored your honour by ending discrimination and injustice faced by you… Ensure a government which will work for you so that you do not go to Srinagar with a begging bowl. It is possible by strengthening Modi’s hand,” the senior BJP leader said.
He asked the BJP workers at the rally to “take a pledge to ensure the victory of party candidates before leaving this place”.
“When booth workers start chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai,’ many opponents have left their grounds. This time, Jammu’s booth workers must go door to door and spread the word about the positive changes in Jammu”, he said
Recounting the Modi government’s works, Shah said it has spent over Rs 32,000 crore for the development of the Jammu region alone in the past 10 years. It is also under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Jammu and Kashmir has been granted AIIMS, IITs and IIMs . This will generate revenue for the development of Jammu and Kashmir. Power projects worth over Rs 25,200 crore to generate 3,000 MW electricity and make Jammu and Kashmir surplus in electricity and boost development are underway, he informed the rally, adding that the BJP has improved the electricity infrastructure in Jammu and undertaken numerous development projects .
Shah said it was the BJP that fulfilled the aspirations and long-pending demands of the people of the Jammu region and mentioned the announcement of a holiday on the birth anniversary of the last Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh to bolster his claim.
“Should those who insulted the Maharaja and forced him into exile win?” he posed while alleging that the NC-Congress alliance has a “divisive” agenda. “The NC-Congress wants to bring back the old system which means injustice, discrimination and corruption.”
“Do you agree with changing the name of Shankaracharya Hill (in Srinagar) to ‘Takht-e-Suleiman’? This is on their agenda,” he asked the gathering.
“The past when you had to fight for your rights and development through agitations has gone. You have seen the months-long Amarnath agitation (of 2008). The system was changed by the Modi government and all your demands were met without any agitation or pleading,” Shah said.
The Home Minister also referred to the annual Amarnath Yatra and said over 5.12 lakh pilgrims from across the country offered their prayers at the shrine this year without any fear.
He credited the Modi dispensation for it and said the government has done a lot of work in the past 10 years besides restoring democracy at the grassroots level by holding local body elections.
At the rally, Shah talked about the 25 guarantees in the BJP manifesto and asked each party worker to ensure voting by their families along with three other families in favour of BJP candidates before 11 am on the polling days.
He said the BJP has announced that under the ‘ Maa Samman Yojana ,’ the senior-most woman in each household will receive Rs 18,000 annually for her livelihood. Beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Yojana will be provided with two free LPG cylinders each year . In line with Jammu and Kashmir’s reservation policy, Agniveers from the state will be given priority without impacting the general quota.
Earlier, the Home Minister assured people about the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood after the assembly election, which he said is the first under the national flag and the Constitution following the abrogation of Article 370 by the Narendra Modi government.
. “For the first time since India’s independence, voters in Jammu and Kashmir will cast their votes under one flag, with one constitution drafted by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, and one Prime Minister elected by the entire nation-our beloved Shri Narendra Modi Ji”, he added.
He accused the Congress-National Conference alliance of attempting to revive the “old system” and pushing Jammu and Kashmir into terrorism and corruption.
The NDA government will not allow the revival of terrorism, “autonomy” and injustice with any community, including Gujjars, Pahari, Bakerwals and Dalits who were granted reservation by the BJP dispensation, he said.
“The upcoming elections in Jammu and Kashmir are historic because, after Independence, the polls are happening for the first time under our national flag and Constitution, unlike the past practice of two flags and two constitutions.
“From Kashmir to Kanyakumari we have only one prime minister and he is Modi,” Shah told BJP workers’ rally before leaving for Delhi.
Taking a dig at the National Conference-Congress alliance, he alleged they are trying to push Jammu and Kashmir into the fire of corruption and terrorism once again while the BJP-led government has brought down terror incidents in the Union territory by 70 per cent.
“The National Conference and the Congress will never be able to form a government in J-K, be confident about it,” Shah told BJP workers, encouraging them to ensure the success of the party candidates to form the next government.
Shah started his over half-an-hour speech by paying tributes to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Pandit Prem Nath Dogra and Baba Daleep Singh Manhas and extended greetings to the nation on Ganesh Chaturthi and the Jain community on Paryushana Parva.
“This election is being held outside the shadow of Article 370. We have seen its miracle in the Lok Sabha elections when 58.46 per cent of voters exercised their franchise unlike in the past when 10 per cent voting was being celebrated by the previous governments in Delhi.
“This is the biggest success of democracy,” he said, reiterating that there will be no talks with Pakistan till terrorism ends and peace is restored.
On the opposition’s poll promise of statehood restoration, Shah said, “I want to ask Farooq Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi, who is going to restore the statehood. You cannot give it back. Why are you misleading the public?”
“It is the central government and BJP and I have already said inside Parliament that we will restore statehood at an appropriate time after assembly elections. They should hear my speech on August 5 and 6 (2019).”
He also criticised the NC for its promise of releasing “stone-pelters and terrorists” from jails and alleged that their aim is to revive terrorism in the peaceful Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts of Jammu.
Kashmir has borne the brunt of terrorism because there were governments that used to close their eyes and the people at the helm used to flee.
“If NC-Congress returns to power, consider this as a revival of terrorism. Jammu and Kashmir, especially Jammu has to decide whether they want terrorism or peace and development… Nobody dares to infiltrate when there is the BJP.
“When the Modi government took over (in 2014), it spelt destruction for those funding terrorism by sending them to jails. They are talking about starting suspended LoC trade, the dividends of which go to terrorism,” he said.
Referring to the NC’s promise of implementation of the autonomy resolution, Shah said no power can talk about autonomy as more than 40,000 people have lost their lives to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
“I am reading the writing on the wall that NC and Congress will never form a government. They are the people who forced Maharaja Hari Singh to exile and only his ashes could be brought back after his death,” Shah said.
He said that these three families want to plunge Jammu and Kashmir into the fires of terrorism again. If BJP workers in Jammu can surpass the formula of ‘ Ek Karyakarta, Char Parivar ,’ the Bharatiya Janata Party will work to protect Jammu from terrorism permanently. Rumors are circulating that an NC government is about to form in Jammu and Kashmir, but neither an NC nor a Congress government will ever come to power there. These are the same people who, after the merger of Jammu and Kashmir, expelled Maharaja Hari Singh from Jammu and prevented his return. For years, they did not observe a holiday for Maharaja Hari Singh’s birth anniversary. In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party has honored Hari Singh, who was instrumental in Jammu and Kashmir’s merger with India, by declaring it a holiday, he added
Continuing his tirade against the NC, Congress and the PDP, he accused the three families of mass corruption.
The corruption by these families is equal to that in the entire country, the Union home minister alleged. “Had the money taken by them been utilised for development of the region, no work would have been left incomplete in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Shah said the goal of the BJP is overall development.
“I want to remind the youth of Kashmir that you gave power to them but Abdullah and his family fled to England in the face of terrorism while the youth fell to terrorism which we wiped out. Vote anyone you want but do not make them win as their agenda will bring back terrorism and stop development,” he added.
