As Jammu and Kashmir goes for its first major election since the abrogation of Article 370, Union minister Amit Shah at the CNN-News18 Rising India Summit 2024 on Wednesday said it does not matter whether the BJP will get a mandate in the Union Territory, but the three ‘Parivarvadi parties’ – the Congress, National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – who did not let democracy flourish in the region should be wiped out.
The people of Kashmir should be brave. They should “punish” those who kept them deprived of democracy and constitutional rights for 75 years. “You can vote for whichever party you want, but these three parties (Congress, NC, PDP) should be taught a lesson,” Shah said.
With five Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir going to polls from next month, Shah said, “I want to say to all the Muslim brothers and sisters of the Valley that if you want democracy to reach to the grassroots of Kashmir, then you must wipe out these three political parties.”
On the grass-root development in Kashmir, Shah said, “Since Independence, the region has not witnessed the Panchayat election. For the first time, we appointed 30,000 Sarpanches and Panches. We formed Tehsils and Zila Parishads in Kashmir.”
When asked about reforms in the region after the removal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said, “Today, every Kashmiri gets an annual health insurance of Rs 5 lakh, water supply and rice, tourism is flourishing, theatres have opened after 30 years, this is all because of democracy.”
About the dates for the assembly elections in Kashmir, Shah said as per the Supreme Court order, the electoral exercise should be conducted by September.
The five Lok Sabha constituencies going for polls are Udhampur, Baramulla, Srinagar, Anantnag and Jammu. Voting will take place in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. Counting of votes will take place on June 4.
In the 2019 election, the NDA won 2 seats while Jammu Kashmir National Conference won 3 seats. Ladakh, which was part of J&K then, was won by the BJP.
The BJP has fielded Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh and sitting MP Jugal Kishore from Udhampur and Jammu Parliamentary seats, respectively.
Both the leaders have been fielded for the third time since the 2014 elections.
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