Citing peace and progress, PM wraps up J&K campaign
Modi accused the Opposition of having deprived the UT’s people of their rights and said the decision to strip the region of its statehood was only temporary.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of inflicting wounds on the people as he addressed his final rally on the penultimate day of campaigning for Jammu and Kashmir’s first assembly polls in a decade.
Speaking in Jammu, Modi accused the Opposition of having deprived the UT’s people of their rights and said that the decision to strip the region of its statehood was only temporary.
“In the past 60 to 65 years, this region witnessed only destruction… Leave aside development, every sphere of life suffered. Modi is working sincerely to fill up all those pits of the past and will not leave any opportunity to address your issues,” he said.
“BJP is the only party which will restore statehood to the region,” he added.
The PM asked the people of Jammu to grab the opportunity to “end discrimination” meted out to the region for decades. “I want to tell the people of city of temples not to let this opportunity go away. The BJP government alone would end the discrimination to Jammu region,” he said.
After a contentious delimitation exercise, Hindu-majority Jammu has 43 seats and Muslim-majority Kashmir has 47 in the 90-member legislative assembly. Before delimitation, Kashmir had 46 seats compared to Jammu’s 37.
Modi was speaking ahead of the third and final phase of assembly elections in the restive region on October 1, when 40 seats – 24 in Jammu and 16 in Kashmir – go to the polls. The votes will be counted on October 8.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is fighting on all of the 43 seats in Jammu and 19 of the 47 seats in Kashmir.
Escalating his attack, the prime minister said the Congress-NC alliance and the PDP were irked by the changes in Jammu and Kashmir because they did not like development.
“They are saying they will form the government to revive the old system – the same discriminatory approach which led Jammu to be the biggest sufferer,” he added.
Modi said the Jammu region in particular faced “decades of injustice” at the hands of the three parties which not only defamed the Dogra legacy but also their rulers.
He also called them the biggest enemy of the Constitution. “They strangled the Constitution given by Babasaheb Ambedkar.” he said.
In the speech a little over 40 minutes, Modi highlighted “peace” on the borders with Pakistan and “overall development” in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014. He also invoked India’s surgical strike on terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC) in 2016 and termed the elections an opportunity for Jammu to end discrimination.
“In these elections, the people of Jammu and Kashmir would write a new chapter. For the past several decades, Congress, NC and PDP leaders and their families thrived while the people were ruined,” he said.
These are the first assembly polls in the restive region since its special status and statehood were scrapped five years ago, and are likely to be the last step before the Union territory’s statehood is restored.
The PM said the three parties brought “miseries and destruction” to the people.
“People don’t want the same Nizam (system) again where corruption, nepotism in jobs, terrorism, separatism and bloodshed peaked. People here want peace, they want a better future for their children. Therefore, people want the BJP government,” he said.
“In the last two phases, there was huge turnout and that gauged the mood of the people, which is in favour of the BJP,” he added.
The last two phases — 61.38% in Phase 1 and 57.31% in Phase 2 – have marked a historic turnout in a region otherwise marred by terrorism and violent poll boycotts, and carried forward the momentum recorded during this summer’s Lok Sabha polls, when the highest polling percentage in 35 years, of 58.46%, was recorded.
The PM asked the people of Jammu to grab the opportunity to end discrimination meted out to the region for decades. “Be it Jammu, Samba or Kathua, only one slogan is renting the air — Jammu Ki yahi pukar aa rahi hai BJP sarkar (Jammu is calling for a BJP government),” he added.
Modi alleged that the Congress was in the grip of “urban naxals”.
“When illegal immigrants from foreign countries enter India, Congress, for reasons known to it, likes them. They see their vote bank in them but they make fun of their own people,” he said.
Modi said the Congress, NC and PDP deprived people of their voting rights. “The BJP honoured the Constitution and ensured voting rights to refugees from West Pakistan and PoK besides Gurkhas and Valmikis,” he said.
Referring to Gujjars, Bakarwals and Paharis, he said the three parties denied scheduled tribe reservation to them.
Attributing peace on the Pakistan borders to India’s tough stance since 2014, Modi invoked India’s surgical strike on terror camps across the LoC – Saturday was its eighth anniversary – in response to a terror attack on an army base in Uri on September 18, 2016, which left 19 soldiers dead.
“The Congress had demanded from our army evidence of the surgical strike and which, till date, talked in tone and tenor of Pakistan on surgical strike. Will you ever forgive such Congress?” he asked.
The PM recalled how areas in Jammu were shelled by Pakistan. “There was a time when huge shelling from across the border used to be breaking news while the Congress raised white flag. With the BJP government at the Centre, every single bullet was retaliated by bombs,” he said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhio Vadra countered the PM during a rally in the Bishnah area of Jammu and said the BJP had done nothing for the people of J&K.
“Even in Modi Ji’s speech, there was no seriousness about the genuine concerns of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. What really matters are the genuine concerns of the people of J&K. Why aren’t those being addressed? Why aren’t they focusing on the truth? Why did the PM?,” she said.