‘Udhampur neglected because of NC, Cong appeasement policy’
Avtar Bhat
UDHAMPUR, Dec 10: Maintaining that Narendra Modi Government in last over eight years compensated Jammu & Kashmir for lapses of last six decades, Union Minister in PMO with independent charge of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, accused National Conference (NC) and Congress who ruled the erstwhile State for decades together for neglecting Udhampur and other hill regions for their appeasement policy and vote bank politics.
Hitting out hard on these parties during an informal chat with media persons on the sidelines of a party programme here today. Dr Jitendra Singh said the appeasement policy and the vote bank politics followed by both Congress and NC during their rule for decades together has been the cause of sufferings of the people in Udhampur and other hilly regions of the UT.
He said these parties made it a point to convey the message that their plans of development were not meant for such districts or regions from where they did not expect much votes.
Dr Jitendra Singh while giving full credit to Modi Government for strengthening the basic institutions of democracy in the J&K by holding elections to Panchayats, Block Development Councils and District Development Councils, said the grassroot institutions of the democracy were totally ignored by previous NC and Congress regimes who didn’t want that the common people of the erstwhile State should be empowered and funds should reach to grassroot level.
The Union Minister asked that why the Constitutional 73rd and 74th Amendments which were passed during Rajiv Gandhi rule at Centre were not implemented in J&K when the Congress was ruling in the State at that time? Why it took decades till the Narendra Modi came to rule at Centre that these 73rd and 74th amendments were implemented in J&K. The only reason to this was that both NC and Congress didn’t want that funds should be directly transferred to Panchayats or Municipalities so that the ruling parties can maintain their monopoly, he added.
Addressing a mammoth BJP public rally later, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Udhampur did not get its due and was always discriminated against because it was always a stronghold of erstwhile Jana Sangh and then Bharatiya Janata Party, but ever since Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister in 2014, he has made it clear that all those regions which did not receive due attention in the past governments will be developed at par with the other developed parts of the country.
It will be a subject of analysis for the future historians, said Dr Jitendra Singh, as to why many of the projects taken up during the last 8 to 9 years were not even considered by the earlier Governments. Citing, he said, River Devika has flown through Udhampur for centuries and so many generations were born and raised by its banks but it was only during the present government that a mega national level project for river rejuvenation for the holy Devika was initiated and Rs. 200 crore allocated for it.
On the occasion, over three dozen elected representatives of local bodies and a large number of youth joined the BJP and were introduced to the Minister by former MLA Balawant Singh Mankotia who had recently quit the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the BJP.
Dr Jitendra Singh hoped that with all the likeminded ground level activists joining the BJP, it would be possible to further multiply the pace of development in the region.
Sharing the information that a state-of-the-art wellness centre is near completion at Mantalai, Dr Jitendra Singh took a dig at the Congress Party and said that the entire premises had been deserted for the last three decades after the death of Swami Dhirendra Bhrahamachari who was very close to Indira Gandhi regime. It was only during the present Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that this premises had been reconstructed and redeveloped, he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said BJP is not a dynastic party but people’s party where all workers and leaders are alike. Every party activist is given equal treatment in BJP and no one is considered as superior. “We work jointly and share collective responsibility,’’ he added.
Referring to several landmark achievements of the past 8 to 9 years, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this is perhaps the only Lok Sabha constituency in the country which has got three Centrally Funded Medical Colleges, out of which one is located in Udhampur. He also referred to the new radio station, new passport office, Devika bridge, Beerwa bridge, upcoming Sudmahadev national highway, Dhar road upgradation and centrally funded roads to peripheral areas like Gordi.
He also announced from his MP fund a new community hall to be brought up close to the venue of public rally at Mangolian.
Later, Dr Jitendra Singh also held a meeting with the district administration in presence of public representatives. It was decided to initiate legal proceedings against the contractor of river Devika project in addition to Rs 2 cr fine for not meeting the timeline. He expressed satisfaction at the fact that for the last three years consecutively Udhampur district stood at rank 1 or rank 2 at all India level for the construction of Centrally funded PMGSY roads.
J&K BJP vice president, Pawan Khajuria, DDC Chairman Lal Chand, newly elected district BJP President, Arun Kumar and Prabhari Chandra Mohan Gupta also spoke on the occasion. All of them took pride in hailing massive development works brought by Dr Jitendra Singh in his constituency. They said no MP in the past had focused so much on this constituency and that is why in 2019 Udhampur gave him a record victory with the highest J&K margin of 3.5 lakh votes.
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