JAMMU: Senior BJP leader Devender Singh Rana today said the rigged elections to Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in 1987 during the tenure of the Congress government under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi led to widespread disillusionment and eventually germination of terrorism. “The Congress set a stage for Pakistan to take advantage of the situation post rigged elections to unleash terrorism that led to large scale destruction, mayhem and ethnic cleansing of the miniscule but peaceful minority community from their homes and hearths”, Devender Rana said while addressing said while addressing prominent members of Gujjar community of Tehsil Nagrota and Dansal here this evening along with DDC Chairman Bharat Bhushan and District President Jammu North Omi Khajuria and former MLC Haji Mohammad Hussain. He said the guns would not have entered into the Valley had the elections not been rigged and the concerns of the then Governor Jagmohan heeded to by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. It was because of the muteness of the Congress government at New Delhi that led to eruption of terrorism, followed by total surrender by the then Union government, which served as a booster for terrorists and separatists to call the shots. Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress Government played havoc with democratic ethos and brought Jammu and Kashmir to such a morass that thousands of people got killed and widespread destruction became the norm for nearly three decades, he added. “But for the course correction by the BJP under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress with its lackeys in the political spectrum of Kashmir would have continued with their agenda of allowing political instability and disturbed conditions to bully New Delhi and remain leeched to power”, Devender Rana said, adding that the meaningful efforts towards restoring trust in the mechanism of governance by the double-engine dispensation has made a huge difference post August 6, 2019. Redressal of grievances has hugely contributed towards fostering peace and stability in the region that has manifested huge transformation on development and economic fronts, he said. Devender Rana also referred to the path-breaking initiatives taken in the past over four years with thrust on transforming Jammu and Kashmir that has unfortunately been subjected to neglect and deprivation by the successive governments. He said the people in this part of the country are for the first time having a feel of being at the centre stage of various schemes aimed at ameliorating their lot. The restoration of peace has paved the way for unprecedented initiatives on infrastructural development and implementation of various schemes. The governmental efforts are seen at ground zero in a big way, as the people are now deriving the dividends of peace, he maintained.
