Clear fight between Gandhi-Abdullah families and BJP: Amit Shah

Kishtwar Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said there is a clear fight between the Congress-National Conference alliance and the BJP one wanting to bring back Article 370, and the other committed to stopping it. He said voting in favour of BJP candidate Shugan Parihar is not only for development and progress but also to pay tribute to martyrs, including her father. “This election in Jammu and Kashmir is clearly between two forces. On one side are the National Conference (NC) and the Congress, and on the other side is the BJP.

It is a contest between the BJP and the Gandhi- Abdullah families. Both have clear agendas,” Shah told a public rally here. He said the BJP follows the ideology of Prem Nath Dogra - “One Constitution, one flag, and one Prime Minister,” affirming that Jammu and Kashmir is an inseparable part of India, and “no one can reverse that”. Shah, who was campaigning in support of party candidates Shugan Parihar, Sunil Sharma, and Taraq Keen, said the NC and the Congress have said they will restore Article 370 if their government comes to power. “The reservations now available to hill people and Gujjars will be taken away under Article 370,” he said.

“It is a contest between those who want to bring back Article 370 and those who have made it history,” he added. “What (Prime Minister) Modi ji did by removing Article 370 has become a page in history. There is no place left for Article 370 in the Constitution of India. In Jammu and Kashmir, there can never again be two Constitutions, two prime ministers, and two flags. The flag will always be our beloved tricolour,” he said. Hitting out at the NC and the Congress, he said e f for t s are still being made, similar to those in 1990, to strengthen terrorism again. “The NC and the Congress have made some promises that if their government comes to power, they will release terrorists,” he said.

“Today, I tell you all that this is the Narendra Modi government; no one has the courage to spread terrorism on Indian soil,” he added. He accused the NC Congress alliance of “nurturing” terrorism . “Wheneve r the National Conference and the Congress formed the government in the valley, terrorism thrived,” he alleged. “Remember the 1990s... I want to ask (former chief minister) Farooq Abdullah, who was the chief minister then after a pact with Rajiv Gandhi. Where were you when our valley was drenched in blood?” he added.

Shah said voting for Parihar and making her victorious is not just for peace, progress, and development but also to pay homage to the martyrs of this land, including her father and uncle. He claimed the Congress, which once called the Abdullah family “traitors” and held them responsible for terrorism, had kept Omar Abdullah’s grandfather in jail for years.