Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 24 : Making a scathing attack on the Congress Party for misleading the people, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said here today that the matter of fact is that Congress had denied reservation in Jammu & Kashmir whereas BJP gave it after Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister.
In an exclusive interview to a national news channel, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is for the Congress party to answer why they had not granted political reservation to Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Jammu & Kashmir. He said, it is purely on vote bank consideration that Scheduled Tribes were not granted reservation, which was available in the rest of the country because Congress Party did not consider them as a part of their vote bank in J&K.
The ongoing Assembly election in Jammu & Kashmir, said Dr Jitendra Singh, is the first-ever election being held with ST reservation and the credit for this goes entirely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said, when Congress and National Conference say that they would reverse all these provisions if ever they come to power, this amounts to saying that they would also take back the political reservation granted to Scheduled Tribes by the BJP Government headed by Narendra Modi.
What to talk of reservation, Dr Jitendra Singh alleged that the Congress Governments at the Centre and in Jammu & Kashmir did not grant even the normal and usual legitimate rights to certain sections of society as an extreme act of inhuman and constitutional discrimination. In this regard, he cited the example of the Balmiki community who were denied equal rights as other communities and refugees from Pakistan who were neither given citizenship rights nor voting rights for 70 years before the same was granted to them by the Modi Government.
Dr Jitendra Singh cautioned, if ever Congress comes to power in J&K, it will not only take back reservation but will also snatch away the property rights of our daughters and citizenship rights of our refugee brethren by reviving Art 370 and 35A.
Regarding Statehood, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the opposition is asking for something which has already been granted and announced. When none less than PM Modi said this in public rallies in Doda and earlier in Srinagar that Statehood is going to be announced and the Home Minister has reiterated the same more than once in Parliament, then what is there to ask about it. He said, the opposition leaders probably believe that when the formal orders are issued they will take credit , but this old trick is not going to work in the new scenario.
Appealing for a vote in support of the BJP, Dr Jitendra Singh said, representation of BJP in the Assembly will enable the fast-track progress and development at a double engine speed.
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