Dares Congress To Declare It Will Restore Art 370

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while promising early restoration of statehood in Jammu & Kashmir and elections to the state assembly has dared the political parties opposed to the abrogation of Article 370, especially the Congress, to declare that they will restore it, and see that the people of the country will not like to see their face.

Addressing a largely attended election rally under tight security arrangements at Udhampur’s Batal Ballian area in favour of Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh, who is seeking a third successive term as Lok Sabha member from the constituency, Modi thundered that the Congress, National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had created a dilution in the minds of the people of the state that their lives and existence was dependent on the continuation of Article 370 and created a fear psychosis in the country that its abrogation will set the country on fire and the country will lose the state for good .

Udhampur goes to the polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections on April 19.

The Prime Minister asserted that the people of the state, and the youth especially, have proved them wrong. With the demolition of the wall that Article 370 was, which for six decades differentiated Jammu and Kashmir from the rest of the country, all sections of the people in the state are now happily benefitting from their rights enshrined in the Constitution of India. The state has since then witnessed a transformational change with the return of peace and tranquility and the engine of development reaching to all parts of the territory.

The transformation, he maintained has been so stark that terrorism, separatism, stone-pelting, bandhs, hartals and cross-border firing have ceased to be poll issues in these elections. Mothers in the Kashmir valley are once again enjoying a peaceful sleep, feeling assured that terrorist and separatist forces are no longer able to misguide their sons.

Till 10 years ago there were serious security concerns around organising the Vaishno Devi and Amarnath yatras, which is no longer the case now, he stressed.

Modi reminded the gathering that successive “weak” Congress governments at the Centre had been keeping the construction of the Shahpur Kandi dam project on the Ravi river on the J&K-Punjab border pending, allowing the excess waters of the river flow wastefully into Pakistan. By completing the dam his government has ensured that thousands of farmers in the Kathua and Samba areas will be benefitted by irrigation facilities accruing from the dam, besides providing additional electricity to the territory.

Advocating a strong government at the Centre, he said only a strong government can ensure stability and rapid development in the country. Promising that the next five years will be dedicated to taking development and prosperity in the state to new heights with heavy investment being attracted in setting up industries, development projects and promoting tourism, he cautioned the people against being carried away by the rhetoric of the family-ruled political parties which were bent upon taking the state back to its dark days to perpetuate their personal political interests.