"The BJP has not Done Anything for 10 Years," Says Mallikarjun Kharge in Srinagar

Srinagar: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge heavily criticised the Bhartiya Janta Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a press conference at Srinagar on Wednesday.

Kharge launched a scathing attack on PM Narendra Modi, saying that whatever building or developmental initiatives that were launched by the PM have collapsed or are leaking.

"The BJP has not done anything in the last 10 years, where ever a bridge was inaugurated, that bridge collapsed. Ram Mandir was inaugurated, the roof is leaking now. Wherever PM Modi inaugurates anything, this has happened. People say his touch is pure, but I don't know what touch he has. Not only that, wherever there is a flood, there is no money for flood relief. This is the situation of the nation," he added.

During the news conference, the Congress President also criticised the international visits of the PM and said the PM has been ignoring the conflict in Manipur.

"The PM keeps on roaming the world, but the house itself is burning. There is a crisis in Manipur. We have our foreign policy, we are not denying that, but first he should take care of his own country. I am not saying don't go out, but I am saying to first fix the problems in our country. He has seen the whole world till now," Kharge said.

The Congress President also said that the BJP has to answer to the people about changing a state to a union territory and whether that move has benefitted the people of the region.

"The financial problems or any other problems in the region should be understood by the people. The 'tamasha' done by the BJP is done across the whole country. I also have some knowledge of politics. I have never seen in my political life of 60 years that a state has been made into a union territory, have you all heard of this before? So the BJP has to answer whether they have pushed Jammu and Kashmir forward or pulled it backwards. The BJP has said that the region is bustling with crowds, the crowds are of security forces, half of them wear their dress, the other half are without their dress, so the BJP keeps saying that we have developed Kashmir so much, but these are all false promises that they have made. But this is their habit, they have said this before too," the Congress leader said.

"People think that since it is just a state election, it is not that important, that is not the case. Just as important was the parliamentary election, so is this assembly election," he added.

In August 2019, the government of India abrogated Article 370, effectively ending Jammu and Kashmir J&K's special status and reorganising into two Union Territories (UTs) -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The Congress leader further condemned the BJP for failing to provide jobs to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"When people asked about unemployment, they told the people that they would give 2 crore jobs every year, give 15 lakh to every household, these are all election 'jhumlas'. Today also they are saying they will give 5 lakh jobs, but how will they give the jobs, there are 1 lakh government job posts vacant right now, so why haven't they given those yet? They don't have that answer. Just not here, all over India, there are 30-35 lakh job posts vacant. There is unemployment here, and on top of it things are getting more expensive," Kharge said.

Earlier in a post on X, Kharge also said that Home Minister Amit Shah has only told lies while visiting Jammu and Kashmir, he claimed, "Amit Shah came to Jammu and Kashmir two-three times and has only told lies."

The Congress leader further said that sand mining is a problem in the region, claiming that the BJP has given contracts to people from outside the region, and leaving the local population unemployed.