NVI Special Correspondent
Jammu, Sep 28 (NVI): The female face of Congress Priyanka Gandhi today addressed her first election rally in Jammu’s Bishnah area where she claimed that terrorism has not ended in J&K and people are feeling suffocated. She said world’s largest rail bridge over Chenab river can’t compensate for what Prime Minister Narendra Modi snatched from the people of J&K.
Addressing the massive gathering of people who were waiting for her since morning, Priyanka Gandhi, who is also the Congress party’s General Secretary, said she was told in the morning that weather in Jammu was erratic and her chopper can’t reach there. “I was so desperate to meet you and finally I was told that weather has started to improve. Thank God I am here. I am sorry for reaching so late,” she said.
She said PM Modi makes tall claims about development in J&K but the fact remains that what was snatched from people of J&K can’t be compensated. “Your land rights and your other resources were snatched,” Priyanka said, adding that “PM claims that BJP constructed tallest rail bridge over River Chenab which is largest than Eiffel tower Paris. But the fact remains that Eiffel tower can’t compensate Statehood and rest of the things that were snatched from you,” he said.
She said in J&K people are feeling suffocated for the last ten years. “You had a 150-year-old practice of Darbar Move that was also snatched from you. Here, Lieutenant Governor is acting and working at his own will without any accountability,” she said.
Priyanka said that Congress will ensure restoration of age old practice of Darbar Move and work hard to get back Statehood for J&K.
The Congress leader has also made it clear that the process of installation of smart meters will be put to an end if the party is voted to power, adding that the pending bills of people will be waived off. She said that the rehabilitation process for Kashmir Pandits started during the tenure of Dr Manmohan Singh will be resumed as well.
Moreover, Priyanka targeted the government over terror incidents, saying that the terrorism as being claimed is not over in Jammu and Kashmir as 683 incidents have taken place in which 260 security Forces and 170 civilians got killed and questioned whether it is the ‘Naya J&K’.
The Congress General Secretary further said that the policies in Jammu and Kashmir are being framed and designed to benefit the outsiders, saying that mineral blocks and other things have been handed over to the people from outside J&K. “The people hailing from J&K are being pushed to the wall while constructing their houses as the resources available in J&K are being provided to the outsiders,” she said, adding that it is easy to make this statement on the stage, but the people in front of her have borne the brunt.
She retirated that Gandhi family had an old bond with Kashmir. “When I was 12 and Rahul was 14, late Indira Gandhi insisted on going to Kashmir. She brought us here and visited Mata Kheerbhawani temple. It was just four days before her assassination,” Priyanka said. “Whenever I visit Kashmir, I pay obeisance at Kheerbhawani and remember my daadi (grandmother).” (News Vibes of India)
