The World Opinion

Tag: J&k Polls

  • J&K Elections: Amit Shah To Address Back To Back Rallies Today Ahead Of Phase 3 Polls — Check Schedule |

    New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday will lead the BJP’s campaign for the third phase of Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. 

    Amit Shah will address five rallies. He will begin the day with a rally in Chenani and proceed to address a meeting at Udhampur. He will then address rallies in Bani and Jasrota before ending the day with an address to a public gathering in Madh.

    The third phase of the polls in the Union Territory will be held on October 1.

    Asserting that there is no fear of cross-border firing in border areas of J&K, Amit Shah said on Sunday that if Pakistan fires a bullet, it will be responded by a mortar shell.

    Addressing a campaign rally in Nowshera of Rajouri district, he said: “Concrete bunkers have been made in border areas like Nowshera by us, but I assure you that these bunkers are not needed now.”

    The Union Minister said: “Agar Woh Goli Chalayenge, To Hum Gola Chalayenge” (There will be no cross-border firing from Pakistan, and if they fire a bullet, we will respond with a mortar shell).

    Slamming the Congress and National Conference, he said: “Congress and National Conference (NC) do not want reservations for Gujjars, Bakarwals, Paharis, OBCs, Valmiki Samaj etc, they say they will review these reservations if they form the government in J&K.”

    “Rahul Gandhi said in America recently that the reservations are not needed in India as those given reservations have progressed enough and are now part of the creamy layer in the country,” he said.

    Hitting out at NC leader Farooq Abdullah, the Union Home Minister had said: “Farooq Abdullah went to Poonch and Rajouri and told Gujjars and Bakarwals that if the Paharis got the reservation, they would cut into the Gujjar Bakarwal reservations.”

    He said: “The NC and Congress governments in J&K and Delhi did not give you reservations. I promise you that after these elections, we will give Paharis reservations in promotions also so that your children do not become only collectors and district SPs in the future, but chief secretaries and DGPs as well.”

    He challenged NC leader Omar Abdullah and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that “even if they hang themselves upside down, they cannot snatch your reservations as long as Narendra Modi is the PM of the country.”

    Claiming that NC wants to get their flag in place of the Tricolour and that Farooq Abdullah has been telling people in the Pir Panjal region and those in Poonch and Rajouri that terrorism will spread to these places, he said: “The government headed by Narendra Modi will bury terrorism so deep under the earth that it can never emerge again in J&K.

    Attacking the NC and Congress for wanting the Modi government to talk to Pakistan, the Union Minister said that there can be no dialogue with Pakistan till terrorism ends completely.

    He assured the people that no terrorist or stone pelter would be released from jail.

    Home Minister Shah asserted that they (NC-Congress) want to change the name of Shankaracharya Hillock to ‘Takht-e-Suleman’ and that of Hari Parbat Hillock to ‘Koh-e-Maran’, but “since generations, it has been Shankaracharya hill and Hari Parbat Hill and it will continue to be the same for all the generations to come”.

    He appealed to the voters of Nowshera to elect BJP candidate Ravinder Raina, saying, “His forceful voice is heard and taken seriously in Delhi”.

    “Gandhis & Abdullahs sell terrorism from their so-called ‘Mohabat Ki Daukan’, let the elections be over in J&K and their ‘Mohabat Ki Daukan’ will be shut forever,” Home Minister Shah said.

    “Farooq Abdullah should not worry, after the elections, we will publish a white paper on terrorism which will expose those who ate ‘Biryani’ with the terrorists,” he said.

    Highlighting the changed security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir after BJP-led NDA came to power, he said there were times when even the Home Minister of the country could not dare go to the Lal Chowk in Srinagar.

    “I assure you today, go to Lal Chowk with your grandchildren in a private vehicle and nobody will dare touch you. A cinema hall was started in Srinagar after 30 years, Muharram procession was taken out after 35 years. Janmashtami procession was taken out there after 35 years,” he said.

    “You have areas in Jammu region where you have good snowfall, but there is no tourist destination like Pahalgam there. I promise you two Pahalgam-like tourist destinations in the mountainous areas of the Jammu region.

    He also promised to increase the limit of golden card for free health treatments from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh and farmers’ assistance from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000.

    He said that PM Modi has decided that every village with a population of 50 people will now be connected through Pradhan Mantri Graming Sadak Yojana, benefitting the populace living in far-off mountainous areas.

    “We have given 40,000 government jobs in the last five years, we promise to give Rs 18,000 to every eldest lady of the family each year. We will restrict the cost of LPG cylinder to Rs 500.

    He promised two LPG cylinders free on Raksha Bandhan every year, a metro and international airport in Jammu, a water sports facility in Ranjit Sagar dam, reduced electric tariff by 50 per cent, Rs 3,000 to college students as travel allowance, laptops and tablets to children upto higher secondary level.

    The Union Minister said: “Udhampur will become a pharmaceutical hub, we will form a hill development board for speedy development of hilly areas in Jammu division.

  • J&K Polls: Mehbooba Mufti Confident Of Playing Kingmaker; Says No Alliance With BJP |

    PDP President Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday ruled out any possibility of a tie-up with the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir while asserting that government formation after the assembly polls would not be possible without the inclusion of her party.

    Criticizing the National Conference (NC), she claimed the party seeks to contest elections solely for the purpose of forming a government. “They have been doing so since 1947. They do not have any aim other than that. They form alliances just for the sake of government formation, for ministerial berths,” she said, addressing workers at the party headquarters.

    Mufti emphasized that the PDP wants to contest elections with a clear agenda but insisted that no government could be formed after the assembly polls without the participation of the PDP. “We formed a government with only 16 MLAs in 2002. God willing, this time too, no government will be formed without the PDP,” she added.

    However, she clarified that the PDP’s focus is more on implementing its agenda than on forming a government. Mufti, whose party had formed a coalition government with the BJP in 2015, ruled out any future alliance with the saffron party after the polls. The PDP had previously joined hands with the BJP with the goal of resolving the Kashmir issue. Today, however, she noted, there seems to be no scope for that, as the BJP has undone all efforts in that direction.

    Responding to a question about former NC leader Devender Singh Rana’s remarks that the NC wanted to form a government with the BJP in 2014, Mufti stated that whatever her party has done, it has done openly, unlike the NC, which she accused of acting in secrecy. “When we were having talks with the Central government, not the BJP, through Ram Madhav, everyone knew it was done in the open. We brought an agenda and implemented it. We did not do it secretly like Omar [Abdullah],” she said.

    “Rana is saying it now; Ghulam Nabi Azad said before that they [NC leaders] meet with the BJP in Delhi under the cover of darkness. We do not do anything secretly,” she emphasized. “Our party does not have any contact with the BJP, and perhaps there will not be any.”

    When asked about Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s visit to J&K on Wednesday, Mufti said he is most welcome. “He wants to come to Kashmir to campaign for his party, and he has every right to do so,” she said.