Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 22 (ANI): Union Minister G Kishan Reddy criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, attributing Gandhi’s ability to dine at Lal Chowk in Srinagar to the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over the past decade. He also asked Rahul Gandhi to clarify Congress’ stand on Article 370 and the National Conference’s resolution.
“Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should tell the people of the country about the resolution of the National Conference. They should also talk about Congress’ stand on Article 370. Do they want to snatch the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir again? It is due to the 10 years of work of the Narendra Modi government that he (Rahul Gandhi) was able to go to Lal Chowk and eat food last night,” he said while speaking to reporters in Jammu.
BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh highlighted that Lal Chowk, once a stronghold of stone-pelters, has transformed into a tourist destination. Chugh said, “This is an expired alliance. Rahul Gandhi came and I saw him eating ice cream. He should thank Narendra Modi for making Srinagar a smart city and a peaceful city. Lal Chowk which was once a stronghold of stone-pelters has now become a tourist hub. This is a changed Jammu and Kashmir.”
Rahul Gandhi, along with Congress Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge, on Thursday met with party workers in Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing Congress workers in Srinagar, Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said, “You are not workers; you are family. As soon as we got to know that elections are going to be held, we first decided to come here to Jammu and Kashmir because we wanted to give a message to the people of every state that for us the representation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their statehood is the most important thing. In the history of India, after independence, many union territories have been converted into states but there is only one example when statehood was taken away and a union territory was created. This has never happened before and we want to give this message that the representation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is important, it is important for us and it is important for the country.”
Polling in Jammu and Kashmir will occur in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, with vote counting scheduled for October 4. These will be the first elections held in the region since the abrogation of Article 370.
There are 90 assembly constituencies–74 general, nine reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), and seven for Scheduled Castes (SC). The total electorate is 87.09 lakh, including 44.46 lakh male, 42.62 lakh female, 169 transgender, 82,590 persons with disabilities, 73,943 very senior citizens, 2,660 centenarians, 76,092 service electors, and 3.71 lakh first-time voters.
Jammu and Kashmir will witness elections after a gap of ten years, as the last assembly election was held in 2014.
The PDP-BJP coalition government fell in June 2018 when the latter withdrew support to the then-Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti. In December of last year, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to conclude the election process by September 30, 2024. (ANI)
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