Congress chief and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge speaks during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on July 31. | Photo Credit: ANI
Targeting the Narendra Modi-led government over its claims with regard to abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the Congress on Monday demanded Assembly elections be conducted as per the deadline set by the Supreme Court.
In a social media post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleging that the BJP’s policy on J&K and Ladakh neither respects ‘Kashmiriyat’ (Kashmiri identity) nor upholds ‘Jamhuriyat’ (democracy).
“BJP’s policy on Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh neither respects ‘Kashmiriyat’ nor upholds ‘Jamhuriyat‘,” Mr. Kharge said on the fifth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and the bifurcation of the State into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
“The Modi government had claimed that this move would help to fully integrate Jammu and Kashmir, boost economic development of the region and prevent terrorism and separatism. However, the reality is starkly different,” the Congress chief added.
He claimed that there have been 683 fatal terror attacks, resulting in the martyrdom of 258 security personnel and the loss of 170 civilian lives. There have been 25 terror attacks in the Jammu region since Prime Minister Modi took oath for the third time and that these attacks have claimed the lives of 15 soldiers and injured 27 others, Mr. Kharge added. “Targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits have become a norm in the past few years,” he claimed.
Talking about the unemployment in J&K, he said it stands at 10%, while 65% of government department posts remain vacant since 2019. And despite the introduction of the New Industrial Policy in 2021, a mere 3% of investments have materialised on the ground and 40% of projects under the PM’s Development Package, 2015, remain pending.
“Jammu and Kashmir’s net state domestic product (NSDP) growth rate has declined from 13.28% (April 2015-March 2019) to 8.73% post-2019. The people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh yearn for normalcy, a sentiment they conveyed to Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra,” the Congress chief said.
“We demand that elections are held according to the Supreme Court set deadline so that people can elect their own representatives, secure Constitutional rights and put a full stop to this mechanism of being ‘ruled by bureaucracy’. The Indian National Congress stands firmly with the people of these regions, which are an integral part of India,” Mr. Kharge asserted.
