BJP inflicted dent upon Dogra pride: Harsh

Excelsior Correspondent

Panthers Party leaders staging dharna in Jammu on Tuesday. — Excelsior/Rakesh
Panthers Party leaders staging dharna in Jammu on Tuesday.
— Excelsior/Rakesh

JAMMU, May 19: Alleging that BJP’s betrayal has assumed monstrous proportions, Harshdev Singh, JKNPP chairman and former Minister, today said that the recent developments had created a lot of commotion with people of Jammu region feeling the heat of the statements of Chief Minister who had categorically declined to give AIIMS to Jammu region besides terming the Artificial Lake project as non-feasible.
He was addressing the gathering during the one day dharna organized by Panthers Party in Jammu in protest against the perpetuation of bias and discriminatory policies of the BJP-PDP coalition against Jammu region. The dharna was attended and addressed by senior leaders of the party including Balwant Singh Mankotia, State president, Yash Paul Kundal, State president, Young Panthers, besides other leaders of the party.
Speaking on the occasion, Harshdev Singh said that BJP had inflicted a big dent upon Dogra Pride by cowardly surrendering on all its pre poll slogans and its solemn pledges made to the people of Jammu.
Strongly condemning the highly incongruous and contradictory statements being made not only by the alliance partners but also by the separate BJP Ministers, Harshdev Singh said BJP leaders had made a mockery of themselves by taking different stands at different locations to suit different situations.
Cautioning the BJP Ministers and Legislators to refrain from surrendering on the issue of AIIMS by holding assurances of another AIIMS like institute for Jammu, Singh said that any such pusillanimity on its part would face stiff resistance from the people of Jammu region.
Balwant Singh Mankotia, while speaking warned to launch a full scale agaitation against the coalition Government in case the AIIMS project was transferred to Kashmir. He said if the PDP was making unilateral decisions on various issues concerning the people and not consulting the BJP, the latter should pull out of the Government.
Yash Paul Kundal while supporting AIIMS for Jammu flayed the Government for deliberately delaying the start of IIT admissions in Jammu. He regretted that all other IITs sanctioned in the Country during 2014 had become operational from the current year itself except the Jammu IIT. He sought establishment of IIT in Samba in view of the central location of the area.