Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday kickstarted the poll campaign for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. In his maiden speech, he launched a scathing attack on the Centre, claiming that it had snatched away the rights of the people of the Union Territory and was taking away their wealth. His speech did not go down well with some, who said he was trying to divide the people again.
“This is the language of an insurrectionist, not a mainstream politician or Leader of Opposition,” said Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. “He knows he is brazenly lying when he says Congress gave India its Constitution. Like Goebbels he has decided to repeat this lie. He is old enough to know all this.”
Earlier today, Gandhi while addressing a rally in Ramban said: “Not only has your state been taken away from you, but your rights, your wealth — everything is being taken from you. In 1947, we removed the king and established a democratic government. We gave the country a Constitution. Today, in Jammu and Kashmir, there is a king sitting — his name is LG, but he is a king. Your wealth is being taken away from you and given to outsiders, whether it’s your contracts or anything else—everything is being given to outsiders.”
The Congress MP exuded confidence that the alliance government is going to come to power in Jammu and Kashmir. He promised to fill all the government vacancies and extend the age to 40 years. “We will regularize the daily wage workers, make them permanent and we will increase their income. Our goal will be to run the government of Jammu and Kashmir by taking everyone together, everyone should be respected, we should take everyone together,” he said.
In another rally in Anantnag, Gandhi targeted the Centre again and said that for the first time in the history of independent India, a state was turned into a Union Territory. “When we turn a UT into a state or divide a state, we deepen democracy and take forward rights even deeper. But when we make a state into a UT, rights are snatched away,” he said.
“This injustice has been done to you, with J&K. Restoring J&K’s state is our responsibility, not only of Congress party’s or National Conference’s or INDIA Alliance’s, but of every citizen of India. I am here to tell you that BJP and RSS might tell you anything, we are going to give back statehood to the people of J&K. We wanted statehood to be restored before elections but BJP didn’t want this, they wanted elections first. We accept that but you will get the statehood,” he added.
The Congress is contesting the polls in alliance with the National Conference (NC). Jammu and Kashmir has 90 assembly constituencies, with 7 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 9 for Scheduled Tribes (STs). Polling in J&K will be conducted in three phases, on September 18, 25, and October 1.
