Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Congress party kept the Shahpurkandi Dam stalled for decades. He said that the fields of Jammu were dry and the villages were in darkness, but the water of the Ravi river continued to reach Pakistan. He further said that Jammu and Kashmir is "breathing freely after the abrogation of Article 370". Addressing a poll rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur as a star campaigner for Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Modi said this election is not just to elect MPs but an election to form a "strong government in the country". 


"When the govt is strong, it completes the work by challenging the challenges," the PM said. 











Launching a scathing attack on Congress, Prime Minister said, the "weak governments" of the grand old party kept the Shahpurkandi Dam stalled for decades. "The fields of the farmers of Jammu were dry and the villages were in darkness, but our water of Ravi was going to Pakistan. Modi had given a guarantee to the farmers and has fulfilled it also," he said. 














Aiming the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party governments, the Prime Minister, "Congress, National Conference, PDP and all other parties want to take Jammu and Kashmir back to those old days. No one has caused as much damage to Jammu and Kashmir as these family-run parties have done. Here political party means of the family, by the family and for the family". 






Modi Demolished The Wall Of 370: PM


Addressing a public rally in Udhampur, PM Modi said, "For the sake of power, they had built a wall of 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Due to your blessings, Modi demolished the wall of Article 370. I have also buried the debris of that wall in the ground. I challenge any political party in India, especially Congress, to announce that they will bring back Article 370. This country won't even look at them."






PM Modi further said that the time is "not far" when Jammu and Kashmir will get the status of statehood. "Modi thinks far ahead. So what has happened so far is just the trailer. I have to get busy in creating a new and wonderful picture of the new Jammu and Kashmir," the Prime Minister said. 


"The time is not far when Assembly Elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir will get the status of statehood. You will be able to share your dreams with your MLA and your ministers," he added. 


PM Modi In Udhampur 


Modi arrived in Udhampur on Friday morning, ahead of which multi-tier security arrangement was put in place including prohibition on flying drones. 


The Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, from where, Singh is seeking a re-election for a third term, will go to polls in the first phase on April 19. 


A triangular fight is set to take place on this constituency with the Congress fielding Choudhary Lal Singh and the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) pitting three-time ex-MLA G M Saroori against the senior BJP leader.


The Union minister retained the Udhampur seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls defeating Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh, the grandson of erstwhile Maharaja Hari Singh, by a margin of 3,53,272 votes. Lal Singh only got 19,049 votes.


In 2014, he had defeated former Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad by a margin of 60,976 votes.