Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Nov 29: Former Union Health Minister and senior All India Congress Committee leader Ghulam Nabi Azad today lashed out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party alleging that the party intends to divide the State on religion and ethnicity lines.
“BJP is out with a divisive and communal agenda. The regional parties do not have the capacity to check this national party. Only Congress Party can stop BJP from pursuing its communal and divisive agenda in the State,” Mr Azad told reporters after addressing rally at Kelam Gund in Devsar today.
Azad said the party and its leaders have nine faces. Its leaders give divergent statements in different regions and districts of the State. “In childhood, I had heard that usually any person can have two faces, but the BJP has nine faces. In Jammu, they talk one thing, in Chenab Valley they talk something, in Udhampur, Poonch, Uri, Baramulla, Kupwara and Ladakh they speak on something else,” Azad said, referring to the BJP’s changing statements on Article 370.
Azad said the BJP in Jammu promises the people and the Kashmiri Pandits that the party would remove the special status of the State with the Union of India by abrogating Article 370. However, when they come to Kashmir they say scrapping of Article 370 is not even on their agenda.
Azad was campaigning for the party’s candidate Mohammad Amin Bhat in Kulgam who is fielded by the party against PDP’s Sartaj Madni.
Earlier, addressing election rallies in Reasi, Gool Arnas and Gulabgarh Mr Azad accompanied by AICC general secretary Ambika Soni said that Congress has played a historic role in steering the country to its present status as an ’emerging power’. He said party has led the country both in the pre-independence & post-independence phase successfully with focus on strengthening democracy, institution-building, scientific & technological advancement, infrastructure building, educational progress and social and economic empowerment.
Seeking a decisive public mandate, Azad said that Congress will revive an era of progress in the State by ensuring justice to all the regions and sub-regions of the State, with special focus on remote and hilly areas. He said Congress-led Government in a limited span of two and a half years gave a new paradigm of growth and development to the State.
Reminding the people of the achievements of Congress-led Government, Azad said that roads, hospitals, colleges, schools, power projects, tourism development authority and other basic infrastructure was constructed in the entire State with emphasis on time-bound execution.
Azad said that as Union Health Minister, he sanctioned Medical College for Anantnag thus fulfilling the long pending demand of the people of South Kashmir, adding that his decision to upgrade District Hospital Anantnag during his tenure as Chief Minister paved the way for converting it into Medical College.
While assuring people to complete Medical College on priority, Azad urged the people to give a decisive mandate to Congress Party from South Kashmir.
Questioning the credentials of PDP in the light of its tall claims of fighting BJP, Azad said that how can people of the State accept their sermonizing rhetoric when its covert attempts to support BJP in the Chenab Valley region, both in the Parliament and Assembly elections, have become a hot buzz across the State.
Taking a dig at PDP, Azad said that our biggest fault was to ask PDP to transfer power after three years in accordance with the agreement reached between the two political parties and that itch still seems to be troubling them and often, impels them to spread misinformation.
He further said that Congress party has adhered to its agreements and commitments while dealing with alliance partners, be it National Conference or PDP, however, how the alliance partners have reciprocated and behaved , is a fact known to the people of the State.
AICC general secretary Ambika Soni said while launching frontal attack n the BJP, saying that it has miserably failed to fulfill the promises it made to the people of the country during the Lok Sabha elections, and as such, has gradually started backing out on those promises.
She asked, ” Has the BJP fulfilled its promise of bringing back all the black money within 100 days”? People of the country are eagerly waiting to receive the promised Rs 15.00 lakhs per household which the BJP Government will distribute after bringing back the black money, she added.
Soni said that Congress has the ability to accommodate all the sections of the society and its contributions in the empowerment of weaker and marginalised classes like women, youth, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, etc has been outstanding.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
