‘Democracy for the first time in J&K’: Modi takes a dig at the Congress party
PM Modi gave the example of Jammu and Kashmir, saying that democracy has been established in the union territory on the ground level since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday criticised the Congress party, saying that the principal opposition party did not take any substantial step to empower Panchayati Raj institutions in India for decades.
Addressing the two-day regional Panchayati Raj council held in Haryana’s Surajkund on Monday, Modi gave the example of Jammu and Kashmir, saying that democracy has been established in the union territory at the ground level since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
“During the Congress’s regime, there were no concrete efforts made to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions. Maximum work was limited to figures and documents. Jammu and Kashmir is the biggest example. In the year 2019, after Article 370 was abrogated, it was for the first time that elections were held there from the gram panchayat (village) level to the zila (district) level, in which, over 33,000 local public representatives have been elected,” Modi said in a virtual address.
He added, “For the first time, democracy has been established on the ground in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Jammu and Kashmir ceased to be a state and became two union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh -in October, 2019, after Parliament revoked the special status under Article 370 on August 6, 2019.
Attacking the Congress party, Modi said, “This is the reason why even after seven decades of the country’s Independence, electricity couldn’t reach over 18,000 villages across the country. It was due to the Congress and other parties with similar ideology and their corrupt leaders, who had made more than 16 crore rural houses a hub of adjustment.”
PM Modi emphasised that in the 25-year- journey of the ‘Amrit Kaal’, one must learn from past decades. “The road to a developed India goes through tier 2 and tier 3 cities and through villages which are becoming modern, adding a new hope and energy is visible in the hinterland and in small towns,” he said.
Promoting the ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign, he said, “Today has been a very important day in the history of freedom struggle. The ‘Swadeshi Movement’ started today itself. Every panchayat member of BJP has to be ‘vocal for local’, promote local products.”
He urged party members to take the benefits of the Panchayat system to the last mile of society. “I would request all of you that you should go and stay at some small place in your area for 2 nights in a week, sit with the people there,” Modi added emphasising that the Panchayati Raj system is a strong pillar of Indian democracy.
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