Srinagar: Union Minister for coal and mines and BJP’s election in-charge in Jammu and Kashmir, G. Kishan Reddy, on Friday said that the people of the Union Territory ought to choose between terrorism and separatism or peace and development in the upcoming Assembly polls.
“This election is not just an election for the BJP but an aandolan (movement) against the Congress and its ally National Conference. The alliance between Rahul (Gandhi) and Omar (Abdullah) is aimed at reviving terrorism and separatism in J&K but we will not allow it to happen. Therefore, this aandolan is to fend off Pakistan and its proxies and to ensure J&K stays on the path of development and peace”, he said while addressing a press conference in Jammu.
He added, “Now the people have to decide whether they want the Kashmiri youth to pick up stones and come on the streets again or they should continue to have tablets, laptops, books and bats to contribute to nation-building”.
Criticising the Congress-NC combine and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Reddy said that they want to bring a separate flag and constitution back to J&K. He also accused them of discriminating against the Jammu region of the erstwhile state of J&K in terms of fund allocations and power sharing when in government.
Asserting that the BJP has always been forthright in its policies, he said, “We had promised to revoke Article 370 and we did it. And by doing it, we restored the rights of the people of J&K that were denied to them in the past seven decades. We didn’t do any politics over it but fulfilled our pledge to our people.”
Mr. Reddy said that the BJP will soon dole out its manifesto for the J&K Assembly elections which would cover every issue faced by the UT and how the party proposes to make the lives of its people better. He added, “Our manifesto will talk about peace and prosperity.”
Meanwhile, a senior BJP leader Chander Mohan Sharma on Friday quit the party after being denied a ticket to contest election. He has threatened to join the fray as an independent in the Jammu East segment, claiming that a vast majority of its voters has pledged to throw its weight behind him. “It is now for the senior BJP national leaders who are camping here to make a decision on this matter”, he said.
The BJP is faced with rebellion from similar aspirants and their supporters in some other Assembly constituencies as well in view of which the party high command has rushed some senior leaders including former BJP general secretary and RSS functionary Ram Madhav who was recently appointed as the party’s in-charge for the Assembly elections in J&K along with Mr. Reddy to Jammu to defuse the situation.
