‘Will win hearts’: Shah in J&K
JAMMU: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) believes in winning the hearts of people as it will ultimately lead to the ‘lotus’, the party’s symbol, blooming in Jammu & Kashmir, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday. Addressing a rally in Jammu’s Paloura, Shah said his party is not among those who occupy land by force and assured that assembly polls in the Union territory will be held as per the dateline set by the Supreme Court.
He also said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the “evil shadow of Article 370”, which granted special status to J&K, is gone now and that the Tricolour is “touching the skyline” across the region like the rest of the country.
Polling in five Lok Sabha seats in J&K and one in Ladakh will be held in five phases from April 19. The results will be declared on June 4. The BJP is contesting in two (Udhampur and Jammu) Lok Sabha seats in the polls.
“I want to clear the misgivings being created among Kashmiri youngsters that the BJP wants to take the land of Kashmir by force. The BJP is not among those who occupy land by force but believes in winning the hearts of people,” Shah said, as he campaigned in support of Jammu MP Jugal Kishore, who is seeking a third term from his constituency. “The BJP is in no haste as it knows that the party’s symbol ‘lotus’ will bloom on its own in the Valley with the love of people,” he added.
Shah said that assembly polls in the Union territory will be held according to the dateline set by the Supreme Court, i.e., September 30. “Nobody should have any doubt on this,” he said.
On December 11, the top court directed the Election Commission to conduct polls to the J&K legislative assembly by September 30, 2024, and asked the Centre to restore statehood to the region “as soon as possible”. The court’s directive came as it endorsed the Centre’s decision on August 5, 2019 to abrogate Article 370.
At the rally, the Union minister alleged that the Congress, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) exploited the youngsters of Kashmir. “These three parties did not allow democracy to grow in Jammu & Kashmir... on the pretext of security, our Kashmiri youngsters were exploited. I want to ask (NC chief) Farooq Abdullah and the PDP, under whose rule most of the fake encounters took place, who fired on the children of Kashmir and handed the gun to them? It is these three parties,” he said.
But the BJP, under the leadership of Modi, restored peace and ensured development after the abrogation of Article 370, he said.
The Union minister also took a swipe at PDP president and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti over her remarks in 2017 that “there will be no one to shoulder the Indian flag in Kashmir” if Article 370 is abrogated.
“Now nobody has the guts to raise slogans for Pakistan. Slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ can only be heard. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti had said that if Article 370 is removed, then nobody will be left to give a shoulder to the Tricolour. She needs to understand that this Tricolour is immortal and will always stay. The evil shadow of Article 370 is gone now and the Tricolour is touching the skyline.”
Shah also took a swipe at Abdullah over his remark in 2013 on the abrogation of Article 370. “Farooq sahib used to say that even if Modi ji becomes PM 10 times, he will not be able to abrogate Article 370. Farooq sahib, leave aside 10 times, during the second term of PM Modi, Article 370 was done and dusted with.”
Hitting back, PDP spokesperson Firdous Tak said: “It’s unfortunate that even after five years, the BJP top brass has not been able to understand the basic issues concerning the people of Jammu. Whenever the top BJP leadership is addressing the people in Jammu, it rakes up Kashmir and talks about dynastic politics and Article 370.” Speaking on similar lines, Abdullah said: “I can only express regret over Shah’s accusations against us and the Congress. I regret the BJP’s thinking. The Kashmiris will respond in the ensuing polls.”