UDHAMPUR: The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) on Monday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inaugurating incomplete projects in the run-up to the general elections while aiming for votes. JKPCC president Vikar Rasool Wani said Prime Minister Modi inaugurated incomplete projects on the railway line from Katra to Banihal and the AIIMS, which are still incomplete, with the out patient department not even started yet. “The prime minister has been inaugurating incomplete projects in the run up to the general elections eyeing on votes, while Dr Manmohan Singh ji had not inaugurated the Udhampur-Katra railway line despite complete, without final technical clearance of the same,” he said addressing a public meeting in Udhampur district. Wani said that the work on the Banihal to Baramulla stretch was also completed and the train started by Dr Singh’s government, while the work on the Katra-Banihal link, including the highest bridge, was still incomplete except for a small portion of Sangaldan to Banihal. He accused the BJP of prematurely inaugurating projects for the elections to mislead the people outside Jammu and Kashmir through media publicity. Regarding the AIIMS project, Wani said that it was incomplete and even the OPD could not be started fifteen days after inauguration which was promised to be operational by March 1. He mentioned the two-month-long agitation by the people of Jammu region for the AIIMS project, emphasizing that it was not a gift from the BJP. Escalating his attack on Modi, the Congress leader said it was the first time that a prime minister was inaugurating incomplete projects for the elections and misleading the people of the country on the issue of development in Jammu and Kashmir. He credited the former Congress-led UPA government for bringing about massive development, including a package of 24,000 crores announced by Dr Singh in 2004, which eventually swelled to 36,000 crores upon completion. Wani accused the BJP of misleading the people on various fronts, trying to take credit for large-scale projects started by the Congress government and social welfare schemes by changing names and creating media hype, but he expressed confidence that they would face a situation like India Shining and be defeated this time due to failures in checking price rise, large-scale unemployment and other issues. He urged the Congress leaders to gear up their activities and conduct mass contact programmes in their respective areas while promoting the party’s positive agenda and exposing the BJP’s divisive and misleading agenda.
