SRINAGAR: Hours after Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi visited Jammu and Kashmir, BJP National General Secretary and Jammu and Kashmir in-charge Tarun Chugh said that Congress has played havoc within the region for the past more than 70 years. Chugh also mentioned that the Congress, NCP, and PDP have been depriving people of Jammu and Kashmir of development and progress. “The Congress has played havoc within the region for the past more than 70 years by playing in the hands of across-the-border forces. The Congress, in league with the NC and PDP, has been waging a proxy war in J&K to spread violence and disturbance to deprive the youth of employment opportunities. It has been a calculated design of the Congress to support divisive forces and to let down the Kashmiri pandits. There have been signals that the Congress is mostly speaking the language of the cross-border forces led by ISI,” Chugh said on Wednesday. Further, the J&K BJP incharge emphasized that PM Modi has already promised to restore the statehood as soon as the law and order situation improves. “After the Lok Sabha elections, there has been a new upsurge in J&K as the youth have started looking for new job avenues after giving up the misleading way of stones and guns. Jobs for the youth and women empowerment are the top priorities of the BJP in J&K. For more than 70 years, the Congress, with NCP and PDP, has been depriving people of J&K of development and progress, but the BJP promises to turn a new leaf for the people,” Chugh added. Earlier today, Gandhi advocated for the restoration of the region’s statehood, asserting that the withdrawal of its autonomous status has not only snatched the state of its identity but also eroded the rights and resources of its people. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will release the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election manifesto for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections on September 6, as per party sources. The first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will see 219 candidates in the fray, with voting scheduled for September 18. This will be the first assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370. The Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held on September 18, 25, and October 1, with the results announced on October 8. The abrogation of Article 370 led to the revocation of the state’s special status and its bifurcation into two Union Territories in 2019.
