‘Basohli deliberately neglected before 2014’
Avtar Bhat
BASOHLI, Mar 29: Lambasting Congress, Union Minister and BJP candidate for Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that its leaders right from Rahul Gandhi have a record of neglecting their constituencies after getting elected.
Addressing a series of roadside meetings and public rallies enroute from Kathua which culminated in Basohli, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the constituencies represented by Congress leaders all over country saw real development during Modi Government. The development and public welfare schemes reached to these constituencies in last one decade of Modi rule because the Congress representatives were not bothered to develop their constituencies.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that Congress which ruled the nation for six decades indulged in vote bank politics, exploitation of masses and appeasement policies. They divided people on the name of religion, caste and region as it fitted their policy of vote bank while in comparison to that Modi Government did justice to all and appeasement to none by working on the principle of ‘Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas’, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the Amethi which was represented by Nehru-Gandhi family remained neglected before 2019. The condition of its roads was bad till 2019, he said, adding the Basohli remained the victim of same malice before 2014.
It was only after Modi came to power in 2014 the Basohli saw network of roads, Atal Sethu besides the Basohli Pashmina got G I Tag and its and special attention was paid for promotion of local art and painting, besides declaring it a heritage town, he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that Basohli had been deliberately neglected by its Congress representatives of the past, including its MLAs and MPs. He alleged that while reorganization of new districts during Congress rule the Basohli being the fittest case for granting a district status in view of its huge area and terrain as well as population it was deliberately ignored by the then Government and the public representatives of that time from this region chose to remain a silent spectator.
Congress MLAs and MPs elected by the people of Basohli had occupied Ministerial berths for years together but instead of caring for their people, they followed the Kashmir-centric appeasement policy of their masters and thus themselves became a party to regional discrimination against the very constituency which had elected them.
Instead of being benefited by the MLAs or MPs who became Ministers in Congress Governments, the people of Basohli had to pay the price for further worsening of their plight due to such opportunistic representatives, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is in the last 10 years under the Government of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi that Basohli painting and Basohli Pashmina received GI Tag and earned worldwide reputation. Why could this not happen in over six decades of Congress rule? he asked.
Both Pashmina and Painting give Basohli a unique identity but the Congress leaders who apparently always claimed to be the protagonists of regional pride did not pursue this cause because they were more concerned about preserving their Ministerial berths, he said.
“It is under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Basohli received a network of road connectivity, as a result of which the travel time between Jammu and Basohli had considerably reduced bringing a lot of relief and convenience to daily commuters and ease of business for the industry.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that Basohli richly deserve the status of being designated as the “Heritage Town” for which the initiative has already been undertaken. He said, there is a proper procedure laid out for being conferred the status of Heritage Town and the recognition of status has to come from accredited agencies which will also happen under the Modi Government.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the BJP had been in favour of a separate hill district comprising Basohli and Billawar regions and “we had taken up this cause even when we were in opposition.” The evidence of this is that in the BJP organisational structure, Basohli-Billawar enjoy the status of a separate hill district and the party has a separate BJP district president for Kathua and a separate one for Basohli.
Considering the vast area of district Kathua, Dr Jitendra Singh said, there are logistic and practical problems faced by the inhabitants of this region to reach out to various administrative offices located or based in Kathua part for the people living in remote villages and upper reaches of Basohli.
Dr Jitendra Singh said whenever the next District Reorganisation Committee is constituted under the NDA Government, this long standing demand of separate districts will also be addressed.
Under Prime Minister Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, for the first time this region has started getting its equitable share of both development as well as resources.
Those accompanying Dr Jitendra Singh in whirlwind election tour of the region included DDC Chairman Col (Retd) Mahan Singh, BJP president, Darshan Singh, DDC member Narayan Dutt Tripathi and Dr Shweta, former Chairman Municipal Council Shammi Sapolia, BJYM president Udit, Sonu Gupta, Shailendra, Tejinder, Jagdish Sapolia and several other PRIs and prominent leaders of the area.
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