Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, Dec 11: Senior Congress leader and former Minister, Raman Bhalla today said that false promises held out by the BJP dispensations at the Centre and in Jammu and Kashmir besides their dismal failure to deliver have led to the people of border area facing immense hardships.
While campaigning in favour of party candidate Jagpreet Kour from Ramgarh-C at Panchayats Channi Fatwal Dug and Nanga today he said notwithstanding the tall promises such as doubling the income of the farmers and measures for the safety, security and economic survival of the people living in the border villages and towns, made by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi down to local BJP leaders, nothing has happened on ground.
Former Minister said that the people of border areas are facing double hardships on account of unprovoked firing and ceasefire violations by Pakistan and the failure of the ruling dispensations to ameliorate their lot. He said the near absence of civic amenities and above all the missing much promised bunkers to protect the villagers from Pakistan firing is a tell-tale story of official and ruling BJP’s apathy.
Majority of the villages still don’t have bunkers promised by the BJP Government. Even the existing bunkers, residents rue, are either filled with slush or are not usable. Promising townships and flats for the border residents, Bhalla said Government couldn’t do anything for the border residents. Asserting that it’s the people who live within two kms from the border who suffer the most, he said, “These people, mostly farmers without land rights, have lost vast tracts of agricultural land to growing military infrastructure in the past few decades. It is mostly these people who are first line of defence at the border. They become the first victim of Pakistani shelling and bullets,” Bhalla added.
Former Minister further said that by ignoring the interests of the patriotic people of these areas the BJP leadership has also exposed their hollow sloganeering about “Desh Bhakti” and nationalism. While appealing to the people to vote for the Congress as only this party has a glorious track-record of standing by poor, downtrodden and underprivileged and other sections of the society, Bhalla cautioned them to remain wary of the BJP’s diversionary tactics aimed at deflecting attention from their utter failure on all fronts.
He said that BJP Government at the Centre has totally failed to contain Pakistan and safeguard the lives and properties of people living along International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC).
Bhalla maintained that so far BJP has only befooled people with false promises. Being the ruling party at the Centre and having secured heavy mandate in the elections from Jammu region, he blamed BJP for its total failure to address the genuine problems and concerns of the people. He said the Central Government and UT administration took several decisions against the wishes and aspirations of the general people, taking advantage of the situation, forcing people to protest.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
