Avtar Bhat
BANI, (KATHUA), Dec 29: Lambasting the Opposition parties including Congress, National Conference (NC) and their allies, Union Minister in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that they are using the election process for political expediency and eroding the faith of people in the democratic set up of the country.
Addressing a massive public rally after laying the foundation stone of two important projects, namely the first phase of 74 kms Terigala to Dhaman road costing Rs 20 crore and a road bridge on river Seva at an estimated cost of Rs 5.75 crore,Dr Jitendra Singh, termed it a dangerous trend to erode the faith of people in democratic institutions of the country.
The most recent example of this, he said, is that the parties which boycotted the Local Body election with the claim to protect 35A, are now keen to contest Assembly ele-ction with the claim to protect 35A, because they are rattled by the BJP’s success. However, people today comprising youth in majority, are now awakened enough to see through this bluff game, he added and asked these parties not to play with the sentiments of the innocent people of the State for their vested political interests which they have been doing for last 70 years.
He said that Congress, National Conference (NC) and the allies have always abused the election process in Jammu & Kashmir, which contributed to aggravation of the turmoil in the State.
He said Congress, at one point, had also announced boycott of ULB elections in the State, but fearing a drubbing in the elections in rest of the country, it changed the decision later.
Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also Lok Sabha MP from Udhampur-Kathua-Doda Parliamentary Constituency, said in the early decades after independence, the Congress and NC virtually made a mockery of the electoral process by misusing the administrative machinery for arbitrary rejection of nomination papers of candidates from non-ruling parties or by forcibly ensuring that the ruling party candidate was elected uncontested. The candidates were being declared elected by some DCs who were henchmen of these two parties, he added.
While this practice, he said, remained rampant in 1950s and 1960s, the turning point was the Assembly election of 1987 when the then ruling coalition of NC -Congress indulged in blatant rigging of polls to ensure the defeat of some of the young candidates who, later, joined the hands of militants and landed the State in a protracted nightmare of violence.
He said had these parties allowed the democracy to flourish in the State and not played a dubious games for the power politics, the situation could have been altogether different in the State, which is under grip of turmoil for three decades now. It was with their undemocratic and anti people activities that people lost faith in them and they turned to militancy, he added.
He said it was only during the rule of Morarji Deasi Government in 1977, Vajpayee Government in 2002 and Narendra Modi led Government in 2014 that elections in the State were held in a free and fair manner and people were given chance to elect the representatives as per their choice.
Welcoming large number of people who joined BJP on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said, BJP is a party where youth find their future secure. It is now established, he said, that “whether we are in power or out of power, we will never resort to the sin of abusing our forces or supporting terrorists, as is done by Congress and its allies”.
Dr Jitendra Singh called upon the BJP Karyakartas to go from door-to-door and make people aware of the series of development works done in the last five years, and raise the question as to why the earlier MPs and the earlier governments could not do so in 65 years of their rule. As for Bani is concerned, he said, the historic Chhattergalla Tunnel was approved with tremendous effort and now the survey is under process by the BEACONS. Once this tunnel becomes functional and the new National Highway is ready, there will be an all-weather road from Doda to Bani and Lakhanpur, which will not only be a game-changer for tourism and business, but would also lead to job generation.
Dr Jitendra Singh also reiterated that the SPOs who were appointed in 1995 were drawing a meager salary of Rs 3,000 and none of the earlier MPs or earlier Governments bothered, till the Modi Government took over in 2014 and today they are drawing over about Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000. He also informed that new para-military force battalions are going to be raised which will have a special reservation for these areas. Over 17 PMGSY road projects are currently in progress in Bani area, he said, which are a part of over Rs.1700 crore projects sanctioned for this constituency alone out of a total Rs.3800 crore for the State, while the highest ever budget has been approved for CRF Road projects.
While announcing around Rs.1.2 crore from his MP-Fund for Bani, Dr Jitendra Singh said, he has also put forward a proposal for helicopter service from Jammu to Bani-Billawar. The works accomplished from the MP Fund in the Bani area include four class rooms for Rs.16 lakh, Community Hall at Daula Meti for Rs 15 lakh, Toilet Complex at Joda Wali Mata for Rs 10 lakh, an Examination Hall for Rs 10 lakh and a link road for Rs 20 lakh.
As far as the entire district is concerned, the Shapur-Kandi and Ujh Multipurpose projects, revived after several decades, will benefit even the areas around Bani-Billawar.
Speaking on the occasion, BJP State president, Ravinder Raina called upon the people to gear up for the ensuing elections. He lauded the incredible development works accomplished by Dr Jitendra Singh during his tenure as MP and said that to ensure that Narendra Modi continues as Prime Minister, people will have to come out and vote in large numbers and show the door to parties like Congress and National Conference which have cheated them for the last so many years.
Former MLA Bani, Jeewan Lal also spoke on the occasion and asked the people not to get misled by false propaganda of opposition parties who are misleading the masses for their vested political interests.
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