Congress seeks roadmap for revival of peace

◗ The Cong core group on Kashmir, headed by ex- PM Manmohan Singh, met here on the directions of the party president

A day after the BJP pulled out of the Jammu and Kashmir government resulting in imposition of governor’s rule there, the Congress core group on Kashmir met and demanded a roadmap for the restoration of peace and normalcy in the state.

The Congress core group on Kashmir, headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met here on the directions of party president Rahul Gandhi. Some members who could not be present like former finance minister P. Chidambaram participated through video conferencing, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni said at a press conference here.

“J& K has been plunged into an abyss of darkness by the rank political opportunism and lust of power of the BJP- PDP. Their coming together in 2015 itself will be recorded in history as a saga of greed of power, utter deception and sheer betrayal of the aspirations of the people. Now that the alliance has unravelled itself after forcing the state into deep turmoil, reminiscent of the early 90’ s, both the BJP- PDP share equal blame at their altar,” Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

“The plain truth is that in November 2014, PM

Narendra Modi campaigned extensively against the PDP and the PDP leadership campaigned against the BJP. Both pleased their constituencies by political name calling and had sought mandate against each other. Both used Jammu and Kashmir as bogeys to attain power and later shedding their entire pretense, signed a ‘ Faustian Deal’ which was guided by ‘ self- interests’ above ‘ national interest’,” he said.

“It is a relief that the opportunistic coalition has collapsed,” he added.

A statement issued after the core committee meeting posed seven questions for the Central government, including how the Prime Minister proposes to ensure peace and normalcy in the state and when will the ceasefire violations by Pakistan and terror attacks on our soil stop.

Claiming that J& K had benefitted for years from the relative peace and normalcy resulting from focused and sustained attention from the then Congress- UPA government, the statement said the BJP has floundered to protect our borders.