PM freed J&K from clutches of Art 370, terrorism, separatism: Anurag Thakur

“Congress still arrogant, it is not above law”

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi freed Jammu and Kashmir from the clutches of Article 370, terrorism and separatism which is the biggest achievement of the BJP-led government, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said.
Thakur made this assertion as he joined BJP candidate Jugal Kishore, who submitted his nomination papers from the Jammu Lok Sabha seat after a massive road show here.
He said Prime Minister Modi-led government provided new wings of development to Jammu and Kashmir over the past 10 years besides showing that it cannot stay silent on Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks like the previous regime by conducting surgical strikes across the border.

“Someone travelling with me asked what Jammu and Kashmir has got under Modi? Jammu and Kashmir got freedom from Article 370, stone-pelting, terrorism and separatism while developmental activities got new wings,” the Information and Broadcasting minister said addressing a public gathering after the road show along Residency Road here.
Talking to reporters later after his public address, Thakur said that Jammu and Kashmir recorded a decline of 75 per cent in terror attacks, 81 per cent in killing of civilians and 50 per cent drop in security personnel casualties under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership.
“It all became possible when there was a strong government at the Centre,” he said, asking people to vote for BJP candidates — Kishore — and Union Minister Jitendra Singh (Udhampur parliamentary constituency) — for the third term.
Amid chants of Ab ki baar 400 paar’ and slogans in favour of Prime Minister Modi and the BJP, Thakur later accompanied Kishore to the office of the returning officer for the Jammu Lok Sabha seat where the latter filed his nomination papers.
Thakur said the Modi government is “strongly behind the security forces which is evident when there was attacks on our forces”.
“The previous government would have done nothing but our government went across and carried out the surgical strikes to pin them down there,” he said, referring to the surgical strikes in response to the killing of 18 soldiers in the Uri terror attack in September 2016 and aerial strikes by the IAF deep inside Pakistan following a terror attack on a CRPF convoy that killed 40 jawans in February 2019.

The minister said the Centre ensured flowing of Vikas ki Ganga’ across Jammu and Kashmir where the work on the railway line and new highways is going on very fast besides setting up of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and various other prestigious institutes like the IIM and IIT, new projects which will ensure massive employment generation and large scale investment which is in the pipeline.
Earlier, he said the travel between Jammu and Srinagar used to consume 15 hours but now the travel time has reduced to four to five hours, while the world highest Railway bridge Chenab bridge’ along Udhampur-Baramulla-Srinagar Railway Line (USBRL) has been completed as the country is inching closer to connect Kashmir with Kanyakumari through railway network.
The Katra-Delhi expressway, which was never thought of by the Congress over the past six decades of its rule, is being built to facilitate the Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims, he said, highlighting various achievements of the government in space and other fields over the past 10 years.
Thakur said when Prime Minister Modi took over in 2014, the country’s economy was in shambles but his hard work ensured India’s economy jumping to the fifth spot in the globe and the BJP government is eyeing to take it further up and to the third position during the next five years.
“During India’s G20 presidency, Modi made a push for a new economic corridor which will connect India with Europe. This will also facilitate goods from Jammu to reach Europe,” he said.
Targeting the Congress, the minister said big scams like 2G and fodder scam came to light before 2014 but after Modi took over, he showed how a clean government is run with the same officials.
Lashing out at Congress for its “arrogance”, he said the party is not above law.
Thakur claimed the Congress changed its name from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to hide its corruption.
On alleged criticism of films like Kashmir files’ and Article 370, he asked why Congress rejects the atrocities faced by the Kashmiri Pandits.
“The Congress is not accepting the reality. A majority of people did not know the truth but the screening of these movies has made it possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kishore while asking people to extend their support to him said the country, including Jammu and Kashmir, is “moving fast on the development path” under Prime Minister Modi.
“Modi restored honour of the country, took historic decisions which were pending for decades,” he added.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina claimed it is the BJP which has always expressed its deep concern for the sufferings of the people and the Modi government did lot to provide relief to the neglected, discriminated citizens. He said that unprecedented development in J&K has been big gift to J&K from Modi Government.
Seh Prabhari Ashish Sood, while speaking on the occasion said that the nation had to face scams and corruption from 2004 to 2014 under Congress government, while it has been BJP-led NDA, which, from 2014 to 2024, gave good governance with no space for scams, corruption and nepotism. It flooded the discriminated state of Jammu and Kashmir with large number of prestigious health and educational institutions, granted citizenship rights to the West Pakistan refugees and worked for political empowerment of Valmiki samaj, the STs.
NEM and former minister, Priya Sethi, conducted proceedings of the public rally, while Jammu district president Parmod Kapahi presented vote of thanks.
BJP leaders Dr. Narinder Singh, Kavinder Gupta, Sat Sharma, Sham Choudhary, Sham Lal Sharma, Yudhvir Sethi, Chander Mohan Gupta, Aseem Gupta, Surjeet Singh Salathia, Anuradha Charak, Ashok Koul, Vibodh Gupta, Dr. Devinder Kumar Manyal, Priya Sethi, Chander Prakash Ganga, Bali Bhagat, Sukhnandan Choudhary, Ajay Nanda, Devender Singh Rana, Balwant Singh Mankotia, Rajeev Sharma, Shiv Dev Singh, Dr. Krishan Lal, Prof. Gharu Ram Bhagat, Vikram Randhawa, Baldev Singh Billawaria, Sunil Sethi, Prabhat Singh, Bharat Bhushan, Suraj Singh, Narain Singh, Purnima Sharma, Prem Gupta, Arun Prabhat Singh, Parmod Kapahi, Chand ji Bhat, Sunil Shastri, Rekha Mahajan, Rohit Dubey, Kashmira Singh, Neena Sharma, Omi Khajuria, Prem Gupta, Veenu Khanna, Roshan Choudhary, Ramesh Gupta and others were prominent among those who attended this public rally.