Excelsior Correspondent
Rajouri/Kalakote/Samba, Dec 9: Coming down heavily on National Conference, BJP and PDP leadership for misinformation campaign against Congress, Leader of Opposition (LoP) and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad today regretted that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah failed to carry forward developmental agenda started by Congress led coalition Government in 2005.
Azad also did not spare BJP as well as PDP and castigated them for dividing the people on “communal lines” just for the sake of votes, thereby spoiling secular atmosphere of the State.
Even while feeling low due to high fever, Azad did not cancel public rallies and reached out the masses, who were eagerly waiting for him in higher reaches of Rajouri as well as planes of Samba and Vijaypur.
Addressing series of public rallies in Ghambir Brahmana in Rajouri district, Dhangri and Ghai Bhaas in Kalakote, Samba and Vijaypur Assembly segments seeking votes in favour of party candidates, Shabir Khan, Ashok Sharma, Subash Bhagat and Manjeet Singh, took a dig at NC and pointed that when Congress agreed to make alliance with National Conference, “we were quite hopeful that young Omar Abdullah will carry forward the developmental activities initiated by Congress party in all the three regions of the State. I thought he (Omar Abdullah) will continue the double shift and triple shift works, which would help in mitigating the miseries of common masses of the State. But to our utter surprise, he put all the developmental works initiated by Congress to a standstill.”
Highlighting that the double shift and triple shift works, work culture and good governance, which raised new hope of rays among the people of the State during his small tenure as Chief Minister, Azad shared with the people that “As Chief Minister wherever and whichever town I visited throughout the State, I ensured first to have a look on ongoing construction works- be it Schools, Colleges, Hospitals etc.
“I used to personally monitor the status of works. It was no just once or twice but numerous times I visited the sites even in remote and hilly belts. But unfortunately in past six years, Omar did not visit even a single area to check whether the work in progress would be completed well in time or not.”
Lambasting NC and PDP, he further pointed out that “Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah remained Chief Ministers here in J&K. NC ruled the State for most of maximum tenure since 1947 but failed to come up to the expectations of the people. Even Mufti Mohammad Sayeed remained Chief Minister but could not uplift the poor and downtrodden people. But when I took over the chair of Chief Minister, within short span of two and half years, I made Ganderbal, the Assembly segment represented by Abdullahs a district.”
“There have been two Super Specialty Hospitals one in Kashmir and another in Jammu. Who made it? Is it NC,BJP or PDP? It is only and only Congress party which provided liberal funding when it remained in power at Centre,” Azad said.
Criticizing BJP leadership for befooling the people especially of Jammu province, Azad reminded the gatherings that “ever since BJP came into existence, it carried Article 370 issue on its top list throughout the country. It divided the people on communal lines just to seek votes. But now, when it is in power at centre, It has taken a big U-Turn. Earlier, BJP misguided the Jammu people on the name of Article 370. And after seeking votes from them, now they have shelved the issue to appease the people of Kashmir in the ongoing Assembly polls.”
“I want to ask BJP leadership why they are silent over the issue. They must answer the queries of the people who voted them to power in general elections. They are befooling both the people of Jammu as well as Kashmir and Ladakh as well,” he added.
“What happened in 2008, BJP raised religious sentiments. People voted them and BJP’s tally reached 11 from 1. What happened later, out of 11 MLAs, seven sold the sentiments of the people in favour of NC. Why BJP is silent on that part. Why it had failed to give an answer to the people who voted them to power,” Azad said.
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