BILLAWAR: Union Minister and BJP candidate for Udhampur-Kathua-Doda Lok Sabha constituency, Dr Jitendra Singh alleged here today that Congress party had deliberately denied district status to Billawar. Not only this, the same Congress also cancelled the Dogra Certificate and deprived youth of this belt from the option of getting livelihood as per their inherent aptitude and capacities, Dr Jitendra Singh said. The same Congress leaders are today shedding crocodile tears for Dogras, he said, adding that the memory of Dogras is not so short as to have forgotten what the Congress did to them and their revered Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh. Addressing a massive public meeting here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, BJP had always been in favour of a separate hill district status for Billawar even when it was in the opposition. Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the BJP’s organisational structure, a separate hill district comprising of Billawar, Basohli and Bani regions was carved out nearly two decades back and since then in the BJP hierarchy there is a separate district President for Kathua and a separate district President for the hill district of Billawar region. Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that when the District Reorganisation Committee was constituted under the Congress led coalition government, BJP as opposition party had reiterated this demand but the ruling Congress government carved out ten districts each for Jammu Province and Kashmir Province without following any laid down or transparent parameters. While in the Kashmir valley even small districts were further divided into two or three smaller districts, in the Jammu province the visibly large district of Kathua was allowed to remain the same and BJP’s demand for a separate hill district was ignored, he said. Dr Jitendra Singh accused the Congress and its allies of following a policy of appeasement and regional discrimination, as a result of which the district status for Billawar was deliberately denied. He said, it is an irony that for several years, Congress MLAs elected from this region were part of the government as State Ministers but they too did not take up this cause because they were more concerned about securing their ministerial berths by keeping their masters in good humour. In the last 10 years after Sh Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh said, there has been a continuous attempt to make up for the lapses of the past and to ensure equitable development of all the regions. As a result of this, he said, for the first time after independence today we have a network of roads in the region and one can drive down from Jammu to Billawar in just about two and half hour which was unimaginable before 2014. As for the popular demand for Bala Sundri tunnel, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this too was ignored by the earlier governments. Only after Prime Minister Modi came, this project got approved but was delayed for certain reasons and now it would be taken by the National Highway Authority of India, he said. Former Dy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, Senior BJP leader Satish Sharma, DDC Narain Dutt Tripathy, Neeru Rajput, Vikram Singh, BJP President Darshan Singh, Prem Aziz, Romy Khajuria, Jangbir Singh, Inderjit Samyal, Sanjit Khajuria, Kuldip Abrol, Basotra, Chhotu Khajuria, among others, participated in the rally.
