Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Credit: X/@narendramodi
Srinagar: Stating that time was “not far” when statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday promised an elected government will be in place in the Union Territory (UT) soon.
“Modi thinks far ahead. So, what has happened so far is just the trailer. I have to get busy in creating a new and wonderful picture of the new Jammu and Kashmir,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a mega election rally in the Udhampur district of Jammu region.
While promising for an early Assembly election in J&K, he said, “The time is not far when Assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir. You will be able to share your dreams with your MLA and your ministers. Jammu and Kashmir will get the status of statehood.”
Modi, who arrived in Udhampur on Friday morning, to lend his support as a prominent campaigner for Union Minister and BJP candidate Jitendra Singh, alleged that no one has caused as much damage to Jammu and Kashmir as family-run parties (Congress, National Conference and PDP) have done.
“Here political party means the family, by the family and for the family. Congress, NC, PDP and all other parties want to take Jammu and Kashmir back to those old days. No one has caused as much damage to Jammu and Kashmir as these family-run parties have done,” he said.
Modi alleged that for the sake of power, they (Congress, NC and PDP) had built a wall of 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. “Due to your blessings, Modi demolished the wall of Article 370. I have also buried the debris of that wall in the ground,” he said.
The Prime Minister challenged any political party in India, especially Congress, to announce that they will bring back Article 370. “This country won't even look at them,” he asserted.
The Prime Minister while directly addressing the people of the UT said “I had given guarantee to you that I will get people of Jammu and Kashmir freedom from what their generations have been through. I have fulfilled my guarantee. After decades, this is the first election when terrorism, insurgency, stone pelting etc. are not issues.”
In a scathing attack on the Congress, he said while leaders of the grand old party lived in bungalows while Ram Lalla was in a tent.
“Congress says Ram Mandir is an election issue for BJP. I want to say that Ram Mandir was never an election issue, nor it will ever become an election issue. The struggle for Ram temple was going on even before the birth of the BJP,” he said.
“When foreign invaders destroyed our temples, the people of India fought to save their religious places. The leaders of Congress and its allies lived in big bungalows but when it came to changing the tent of Ram Lalla, they used to turn their backs,” the PM added.
Modi accused the Congress of keeping the Shahpurkandi Dam stalled for decades due to which “country's fields were dry and the villages were in darkness, as the water of the Ravi river was going to Pakistan.”
Seeking a third term for BJP candidate Jitendra Singh from Udhampur, Modi said the ongoing election is not just to elect MPs but an election to form a “strong government in the country.”
“When the government is strong, it completes the work by challenging the challenges,” he said.
The Udhampur Lok Sabha seat will go to polls in the first phase on April 19. A triangular fight is set to take place in this constituency with the Congress fielding Choudhary Lal Singh and the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) pitting three-time ex-MLA G M Saroori against the senior BJP leader.