Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while addressing a rally on the second day of his visit to Jammu state, expressed severe displeasure on Congress and regional National Conference (NC) parties for allegedly misguiding people regarding the return of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking to the audience, Shah said that ‘those two parties only fool people in the name of statehood’ and only the central Government, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, had the power to grant statehood.
Shah also pointed out that the BJP has a commitment to grant statehood at the right time after the elections that are due; he said this pledge was made in Parliament. He said this to Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party, urging him to stop mobilizing the public with statehood promises, stating that only the central government has the sovereignty to grant statehood.
In addition, Shah, who has ample electoral politics, ruled out the option of forming a coalition government led by Congress and NC in Jammu and Kashmir. He was optimistic about their collective failure in the outcome of assembly elections and that they would not garner a majority.
Apart from matters related to statehood, Shah also used the occasion to give further thrust to the BJP’s position on other burning questions. He stated that the party would safeguard the rights of the reservations of Gujjars, Bakarwals, Paharis, and Dalits while stressing that there would be no talks with Pakistan. It was the direct opposite of any statement or issues being raised by opposition parties in regard to the matter.
In this and other speeches, Amit Shah also underlined the importance of the assembly elections, saying that it was ‘historic’ as the people of Jammu and Kashmir would, for the first time, be voting under the Indian tricolour. Union Territory’s BJP manifesto, unveiled a day earlier, was projected as a blueprint for the region’s developmental and political agenda.
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