Srinagar: BJP’s man Friday Ram Madhav on Wednesday alleged that Jammu and Kashmir’s main regional parties National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are openly soliciting the support of “former terrorists” to win the Assembly elections. He added that their election manifestos too have a tendency of promoting separatism and reviving terrorism whereas their leaders stimulate the same in their campaigning.
While addressing the BJP workers at the residence of Er Aijaz Hussain, the party candidate for Lal Chowk Assembly seat, at Balhama on the peripheries of Srinagar city, Mr. Madhav said that he has during his stay in the Kashmiri capital observed that the NC and the PDP are “enjoying” the support of “former terrorists”.
He said that it is now up to the people of J&K to decide whether they want the revival of terrorism in the Union Territory or peace and development it witnessed after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. “If people want peace to prevail and development continue to take place, they must vote for the BJP. We will start our winning streak from Lal Chowk,” he said.
Later, on being asked by a reporter as to when J&K’s statehood will be restored, the BJP leader said that his party’s primary focus as of now was to win as many seats as required to form a government in the UT. “You will see for the first time in history, J&K will have a BJP government. A new chapter will be added to the history of J&K,” he said. He added that the saffron party is hoping to get 45 seats including 35 in the Jammu region and the remaining 10 in the Kashmir Valley. “We must win at least ten seats in the Kashmir Valley. The people of the Valley have to ensure this does happen so that those who ruined J&K for years are staved off,” he said.
Former BJP general secretary and RSS functionary Mr. Madhav who was recently appointed as the party’s in-charge for the Assembly elections in J&K along with Union Minister G Kishan Reddy is among the star campaigners of the BJP in J&K.
Meanwhile, Union minister and senior BJP leader Jitendra Singh on Wednesday asserted that a ‘new era of democracy’ has dawned on J&K. He made a passionate appeal to the people of the UT “to continue with your trust in the leadership of the BJP and its recent electoral gains.”
While speaking at a BJP workers’ meeting at the party headquarters here, Mr. Singh referred to the increase in the voter turnout in the recently held Lok Sabha elections in J&K which, he said, broke the long-standing pattern of low participation and political alienation in the region. “The surge was a sure indicator that the public had restored their faith in the democratic process. It was in endorsement of BJP reforms too,” he said.
Talking about the previous “self-rule” model, he said that it failed to provide real self-government and good governance. He said that he believed this would only continue a self-perpetuating cycle of inefficient leadership with a possible stagnation of the political process whereas the BJP leadership has brought a breath of fresh air into Kashmir’s political environment and ensured truer representation”.
