Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s weekend visit will be a turning point in state’s history. The people of the state, he said, have great expectations from this visit as the Prime Minister “is a visionary and has his eyes fixed on overall development of J&K.”
“I see this visit as an opportunity for history to repeat itself,” he said while recalling the address of former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to the people in 2003 from the same venue-Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium where Modi is scheduled to address a joint rally of ruling PDP-BJP coalition.
Reiterating politics was art of the possible, Mr. Sayeed thanked both Congress and National Conference for extending unconditional support when the 2014 Assembly election results threw a fractured mandate. He said after thoughtful consideration that took more than two months, he took a calibrated decision to opt for BJP in the larger interests of all the three distinct regions of the state.
“Way back in 1947, our visionary leaders had demonstrated similar political maturity and acumen to accede with India, keeping in view the pluralistic demography of J&K. We will remove trust deficit and ensure that no region harbours a feeling of deprivation or discrimination,” he said, while defending his decision to align with BJP.
Promising a new era of development in J&K, the Chief Minister cited several instances where Centre has extended wholehearted support in core sectors linked to connectivity, healthcare, education and rural development. He specifically mentioned the personal intervention of the Prime Minister in speeding up execution of four-lanning of Srinagar-Jammu National Highway and fixing timeline of 2017 for its completion and broadening the scope of railway network in the state. “I met Narendra Modi a couple of times and realised that he genuinely wants to win the hearts and minds of people of the state,” he added.
Reiterating that he has no lust for power nor does he have any hidden agenda, the Chief Minister said he had been a minister in G. M. Sadiq’s government way back in 1967. He said he could also have safeguarded his political career at the Centre but chose to create a platform (PDP) for articulating the aspirations of the people of this state. “In 2008 elections when PDP won 21 seats, I preferred to sit in the opposition and respect the people’s verdict,” he said.
