Union Minister and BJP president JP Nadda on Sunday said the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are pivotal not just for the security and stability of the region, but for the stability of India as a whole.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has transformed India’s political landscape by rooting out corruption and delivering pro-people governance, the minister added.
"This is not just an election for the BJP or any other party. It is an election for the stability of Jammu and Kashmir and to make India strong. It is not the election to make an MLA. It is not an election to give blessing to J&K. It is to bring Jammu and Kashmir mainstream of development. It will give Jammu and Kashmir stability," Nadda told a road-show rally in Jammu city on Sunday evening.
The BJP leader who has hit the campaign trail in support of Yudhvir Sethi contesting the elections in Jammu East, said “it is an election between the nationalist forces and disruptive forces”.
“I am confident that nationalist forces will win and disruptive and divisive forces will face a crushing defeat. This election will ensure stability of not only Jammu and Kashmir but of the entire country," he added.
Nadda said it is also an election to end decade-long injustice with Jammu and Kashmir and bring it into the national mainstream of development.
Also addressing an intellectuals' meet in Jammu, Nadda praised the enthusiasm of the people in democracy as a large number voted in the first phase of the elections.
"In the first phase of elections, 60 per cent polling was recorded. Polling took place without any fear. Where eight per cent polling used to take place and the Army was taking them (people with security) for voting, it was 60 per cent this time. How people are enthusiastically voting. We hope that it will be higher in other phases. This is the change," he said.
Highlighting the struggles faced by certain communities in the past in the wake of Article 370, Nadda recalled the plight of the Valmiki community and West Pakistan refugees, who had been denied basic rights in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Valmikis were only allowed to be scavengers. They couldn’t vote or be recognised as state subjects. West Pakistan refugees who came here in 1947, like former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, couldn’t vote in assembly elections,” he remarked.
Nadda praised PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for fulfilling the long-standing demand to abolish the dual Constitution, flag and the Prime Minister system in Jammu and Kashmir.
“It was the BJP and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) that demanded ‘one nation, one Constitution, and one flag.’ Under Modi ji’s leadership, that resolution was fulfilled. Now, Gujjars and Paharis have reservation, and Valmiki children can attend medical and engineering colleges. They can now aspire to government jobs,” he said.
Asserting the BJP has deep connections with Jammu, Nadda said the hero of the region -- Pandit Prem Nath Dogra -- was first national president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), which was later called as the BJP.
"The BJP is today world’s biggest political party. The first agitation was launched by Sham Prasad Mukherjee against ‘do vidhan, do nishan, do pradhan’ in Jammu and Kashmir in 1953, a year after the BJS was formed. He was arrested in June 1953 from Lakhanpur. He laid down his life in a jail in Srinagar,” he said.
Nadda said the BJP gave reply to such an act on August 5, 2019 under the command of Prime Minister Modi by scrapping Article 370 in the Parliament of India.
"In 1992, Modi ji had come to Jammu to take part in a rally led by Murli Manohar Joshi. He had said that they will go to Lal Chowk and one day, we will abrogate Article 370. He fulfilled his promise by scrapping Article 370," he added.
The BJP president condemned the “royal dynasties” of Kashmir, accusing them of corruption and hindering progress in the region.
“These dynasties - Abdullahs, Muftis and Gandhis -promoted scams in banking, power sectors and even the cricket association. They want to bring back the dark days of the 1990s,” he charged.
Nadda warned that these political forces were advocating for the resumption of cross-LoC trade, which he claimed had been exploited to smuggle arms and explosives into Jammu and Kashmir.
“In the guise of trade, terrorism was flourishing. You know how arms and explosives were being smuggled through the LoC trade route. In the name of trade, terrorism was making inroads into Jammu and Kashmir. But under Modi ji’s leadership, terrorism has drastically reduced and incidents are down.
Today, no terrorist can survive more than a week. Yet, they want to release terrorists and restore Article 370. If you want peace, elect Sham Lal Sharma,” he urged.
"They are trying to sell hate in the shops of love. They are pitting one sect against another sect and one community against another community and divide society to fulfil their designs. But they will never be successful," he added.
Nadda cautioned against those calling for the return of Article 370 and warned that they would push Jammu and Kashmir back into the hands of the terrorists.
“Today they are saying they will bring back Article 370. They want to release terrorists. They want to bargain with terrorists. They want to push J&K back into terrorism. We are holding the elections in J&K and Pakistan is putting pressure. India is giving them a befitting reply. There is peace," he said.
Taking a dig at Pakistan, Nadda said that today terrorism has been given a befitting reply, a PTI report said.
"You are seeing how Pakistan is keeping an eye on these elections. How they are trying to disrupt these elections. So this is an election of security of Jammu and Kashmir and making forward movement on the path of development. It is an election for the development of Jammu. Jammu has changed a lot," he added.
On release of the terrorists and resumption of talks with Pakistan, the BJP president said “this will never happen under the rule of Modi and they will never be released”.
On the restoration of statehood, Nadda said the government is committed to it.
"The prime minister has himself assured us about it. But the NC and Congress are doing politics over it," he added.
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