Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday assured that statehood to Jammu and Kashmir will be restored after the assembly polls, at the 'appropriate' time. The announcement came days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made a similar promise saying his party would “restore statehood to J&K after coming to power”.
Addressing a public meeting in Jammu, Shah said, "Congress and National Conference are saying they will restore statehood. Tell me who can give it? It is only the Central government, PM Modi who can give it. So stop fooling the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We have said that at an appropriate time after the elections, we will give statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. We have said this in Parliament... Rahul Gandhi should stop misleading the people of J&K."
He also accused the Congress-National Conference alliance of making attempts to revive the old system and said the upcoming Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be the first election under the national flag and the Constitution following the abrogation of Article 370 by the Modi government, "unlike in the past practice of two flags and two constitutions." "We have only one prime minister from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and he is Modi," he said.
"They want to release those who are involved in stone-pelting and terrorism. Their aim is to release them and bring terrorism to our Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri where there is peace. Tell me will you allow terrorism to come to Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri? They want cross-LoC trade to be resumed. Who will benefit from it?... They want to rename Shankaracharya Hill as Takht-e-Suleman. These 3 families- NC, Congress alliance and Mehbooba Mufti say they will give autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir. I want to say that no power can talk about autonomy now," he said.
The Home Minister stressed that the NDA government will not allow the revival of terrorism, autonomy, and injustice with any community including Gujjars, Pahari, Bakerwals and Dalits who were granted reservation by the BJP dispensation,.
"Kashmir has suffered a lot from terrorism. There were governments in Kashmir that turned a blind eye to terrorism. There are people who would come here and become chief ministers when there was peace and when there was terrorism, they would go to Delhi and drink coffee in coffee bars. The Bharatiya Janata Party has done the work of reducing terrorism by 70 per cent in 10 years. After many years, the Amarnath Yatra was carried out fearlessly. After many years, night theatre started in the valley, Tazia procession was carried out in the valley. The people of Jammu and Kashmir especially the people of Jammu have to decide whether they want terrorism or peace, or development. If NC and Congress come to power, terrorism will come and if BJP will come, then no one can infiltrate here," he stressed.
Shah is in Jammu on a two-day visit to boost the BJP's election campaign for the three-phase assembly elections, beginning September 18. He released the party's manifesto on his first day of visit on Friday and also chaired two crucial meetings with senior leaders to discuss the campaign strategy.
The Home Minister also addressed the "rumours" of the National Conference forming the government in Jammu and Kashmir and said, "I have been a student of election statistics from a very young age and I am telling you this that the government of Congress and Farooq Abdullah can never be formed in Jammu and Kashmir."
"I want to make it clear that the BJP will fight the elections with full strength and will win the elections... Those days are gone when someone else decided whose government will be formed, now the people of Jammu and Kashmir will decide whose government will be formed," he added.