Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday kick started BJP’s poll campaign for Assembly polls by addressing an election rally in Jammu and saying that Jammu and Kashmir is heading for historic Assembly polls under national flag and constitution.
He also assured about restoration of statehood to J&K after the assembly election.
“After abrogation of Article 370, it will be historic Assembly polls in J&K as it is the first election in Jammu and Kashmir when there is only one flag, one constitution and one Prime Minister. From Kanyakumari to Kashmir, there is only one PM and that is Narendera Modi,” Shah said while addressing a poll rally in Jammu today.
He said 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.
Taking a dig at 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 NC 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.
On the opposition’s poll promise of statehood restoration, he 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 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.
“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 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.
In June 2000, the NC Government under Farooq Abdullah passed a resolution in the Assembly seeking to restore the pre-1953 constitutional position in the state. It was, however, rejected by the Union Cabinet headed by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“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.
The Home Minister accused the three families (Gandhis, Abdullahs and Muftis) of mass corruption.
“The corruption by these families is equal to that in the entire country. Had the money taken by them been utilised for development of the region, no work would have been left incomplete in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
“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.
He also dared Congress and National Conference on Gujjar-Bakerwal and Dalit reservation stating that “no power can touch this reservation.”
Shah said that the people of Jammu will be the key stakeholders in the next government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah said the NC in their manifesto has advocated talks with Pakistan but until peace is permanently restored in Jammu and Kashmir, there will be no talks with Pakistan.
The Home Minister introduced the BJP’s candidates from 11 seats of Jammu districts that are going to polls in the last phase.
“We have to not only defeat their opponents but also ensure that they lose their security deposits. BJP will fight the elections with its might and nobody should have any doubt about its victory,” he said.
“The time when someone else was deciding whose government will be formed (in J&K) has gone. Now Jammu will decide the formation of the government,” Shah said.
“(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,” he said.
He asked the BJP workers at the rally to “take a pledge to ensure the victory of party candidates before leaving this place”.
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.
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.
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.