New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday promised to fight for restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, while accusing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of snatching the statehood to rule the region through the Lieutenant Governor for the benefit of outsiders.
“Until the Lieutenant Governor is here, outsiders will continue to get benefits at the expense of the people of J&K,” he said while addressing an election rally in Jammu.
“We will ensure statehood and then the government will protect local industries. The doors of banks will be opened for common people,” he added.
He said there have been instances in the country’s history since 1947 wherein Union territories were made states and states divided into two but never was a state downgraded to a Union territory. “It was grave injustice with the people,” he said.
Gandhi said the BJP government snatched J&K’s democratic rights. “We thought that the statehood would be restored before elections and it was the right way but they went for polls first,” he said.
Gandhi said that he would use the entire might of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to ensure restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
“If the BJP did not do it for any reason, then the first job under the INDIA government will be to give statehood because this is your right,” he said.
The Congress leader alleged the BJP government has been working for Ambani and Adani.
“While the entire government worked for Ambani and Adani, two weapons GST [Goods and Services Tax] and demonetisation were used to clear the way for these two billionaires at the cost of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).”
He claimed the BJP government wrote off the debts of 25 billionaires. “…wrong decisions like demonetisation and GST destroyed the MSME sector that gave jobs to the people. As a result, employment is not available to the youth,” he said.
Gandhi said Jammu is the hub for businesses and a crucial link between Kashmir and the rest of India. However, he stressed on the need for small and medium businesses to thrive to generate employment. “I just met professionals and entrepreneurs, they told me how the spine of the MSME sector has been broken here [Jammu].” He added unless small and medium businesses stand on their feet, employment will not be available.
Gandhi’s rally coincided with the second phase of the J&K Assembly election conducted on Wednesday.
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