JAMMU: The day when the former state of Jammu and Kashmir formally became a union territory four years ago, October 31, was declared a “black day” by the Congress on Wednesday. Vikar Rasool Wani, the leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, requested that the princely state’s statehood be restored immediately, accusing the BJP of ruining it by splitting it into two union territories. In accordance with Article 370 of the Constitution, the Centre terminated Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5, 2019, and divided the region into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.On October 31, 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which includes provisions to split the state into two union territories, came into force. Wani made the following statement at a meeting of the Rajouri district unit of the Congress: “The Jammu and Kashmir administration is preparing to celebrate UT diwas (on October 31). Some people were characterising it as a temporary move.” The Congress will mark it as a “black day” in protest of the BJP’s policies, which have destroyed the state. The last Dogra king, Maharaja Hari Singh, gave India the region of Jammu and Kashmir, which has suffered greatly, he remarked. “The Congress has turned union territories into states but this was for the first time in the history of the country that a state was turned into two union territories and its special status was revoked,” he stated. “The BJP’s policies hit Jammu and Kashmir economically — we are number one in unemployment and our businesses are now on the decline,” the Congress leader remarked, taking aim at the party. According to Wani, Jammu and Kashmir’s most recent assembly elections took place in 2014. Even though polls have been announced in several other regions of the nation, the BJP is not allowing elections to be held because it worries that its anti-people policies will lead to its defeat, he claimed. “Even the urban local body and panchayat polls are being deferred to hide the failures of the BJP,” he stated. The Congress representative also criticised the Jammu and Kashmir government for its inability to fill open positions in government agencies, stating that since 2010, no teacher position has been filled and that the same is true for other sectors such as police, electricity, water, forests, and fisheries. Wani stated that “everyone wants this government to go” and asked party members to put aside their differences and unite against the BJP. In preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he also urged people to exercise caution around political groups that had formed a “secret alliance” with the BJP.
