New Delhi: As Jammu and Kashmir heads into its first Assembly elections after the abrogation of Article 370, Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday posed 10 questions to the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi over their alliance with the National Conference, which has vowed a separate flag and autonomy for J&K, among others, in its manifesto.
Slamming the Congress leadership for repeatedly “risking the nation’s unity and security to satiate its greed for power,” Shah said the Congress had once again exposed its ulterior motives by allying with the Abdullah's and NC, which wanted to push back Jammu and Kashmir to the “ear of unrest and terrorism”.
After Mr Shah posted 10 questions for the Congress and Mr Gandhi, the BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit launched an onslaught #CongressBetrayedBharat on social media, accusing the Opposition party of showing its “anti-India face once again”.
Earlier in the day, Mr Shah held a meeting in the national capital to firm up the BJP’s strategy and candidates for polls in the UT.
"Does the Congress support the National Conference's promise of a separate flag for Jammu and Kashmir? Do Mr Gandhi and the Congress party support the JKNC's decision to restore Article 370 and 35A, thereby pushing Jammu and Kashmir back into an era of unrest and terrorism," Shah asked.
Asking whether the Congress supported promoting separatism again by engaging in dialogue with Pakistan instead of Kashmir's youths, Shah asked the Congress leader to clarify its stand on its ally’s decision to start LoC trade with Pakistan, thereby nurturing terrorism and its ecosystem across the border.
The Union home minister asked whether the Congress and Rahul Gandhi supported reinstating relatives of those involved in terrorism and stone-pelting into government jobs, "thereby bringing back terrorism, extremism and the era of strikes".
The alliance has exposed the Congress' anti-reservation stance, Shah said.
"Does the Congress support the JKNC's promise to end reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakarwals and Pahadi communities, thereby inflicting injustice upon them? Does the Congress want Shankaracharya Hill to be known as Takht-e-Suleiman and Hari Hill as Koh-e-Maran," Shah asked.
Shah asked whether the Congress supported the politics of pushing Jammu and Kashmir's economy back into corruption and handing it over to selected Pakistan-supported families and whether it endorses the National Conference's politics of "discrimination" between Jammu and the Valley.
"Do the Congress party and Mr Gandhi support the JKNC's divisive politics of granting autonomy to Kashmir," he asked.
The former BJP president claimed that the Modi government ended years of discrimination against Dalits, tribes, Pahadis and backward communities by granting them reservations after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.
"Does Mr Gandhi support the JKNC manifesto, which calls for abolishing reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakerwals and Pahadis? After allying with the National Conference, he should now clarify the Congress Party's stand on reservation policy," he said.
Restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir's statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile Assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference's 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming polls.
On Friday, Shah held a meeting with the BJP’s in-charges for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls — Ram Madhav and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy — along with other senior leaders, including J&K unit organisational secretary Ashok Koul in the national capital. Later, these senior leaders from the poll-bound UT also held a meeting with BJP president J.P. Nadda.
During these meetings, the BJP leaders, sources said, strategised on election-related issues and also candidate names. The BJP central election committee (CEC) is likely to meet on August 25 for the Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir polls and the core group leaders of both states have been holding a series of meetings before the CEC gives its nod to candidate names.
The 90-member Assembly of the Union territory is going to the polls in three phases on September 18 and 25 and October 1. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 4.
