Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir has now become “tourism capital” from the earlier “terrorism capital” due to the initiatives taken by the Modi government, senior BJP leader Tarun Chugh said here while hitting out at the Abdullahs, Muftis and Nehru-Gandhi families for “looting” the Union Territory.
He also said that the Election Commission is making preparations for the conduct of the polls in Jammu and Kashmir and hoped they are conducted soon.
Chugh, the BJP’s national general secretary and in-charge J&K affairs, had said in Jammu on Saturday that party workers should prepare for assembly elections in J&K which are likely to take place in May next year.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a commitment on holding elections in J&K and preparations by the ECI are on. This is the job of the ECI, the voter list has been published and we hope that the polls are conducted soon so that people elect their own government,” Chugh told reporters here.
He said the delimitation exercise has been completed, the electoral rolls have been published and now the ECI will take a call on the conduct of the polls.
“As a party, we are working 365 days. We are ready for the polls,” he added.
Chugh said Modi is now taking forward the work started by former PM A B Vajpayee for establishing peace and creating belief and development in J&K.
Targeting the previous governments, he said, “J&K is progressing ahead today. There was a time when three families had made J&K an industry of loot. These three families looted J&K for seven decades. People’s resources were looted, development and peace here was also looted”.
The BJP leader charged that the three families handed over AK-47, stones and grenades to the youth of Kashmir in place of pens and laptops.
“Vajpayee started peace here and now Modi is taking that forward and J&K has now become a tourism capital from a terrorism capital. Hotels are booked everywhere, youth are getting jobs. Stone pelting is a thing of the past. Development is taking place, employment is being generated,” he added.
Chugh also charged that there was a tradition of these three families to come to power through “proxy votes”.
“Out of 5-7 lakh votes for Lok Sabha, they would get 2000-5000 and get elected. Similarly, they got 500 votes in assembly elections and became ministers. This led to people losing faith in democracy. People thought politics of whole Kashmir is in the pockets of these three families.
“But, after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A, an atmosphere was created, people started to believe in democracy and 11 lakh people voted in the DDC election. The nexus of these families was broken. These 280 members are real representatives of the people and not political dynasts of these three families. This is the belief of the people in Modi’s formula of democracy,” he said.
The BJP’s national general secretary charged that Muftis, Abdullah and sons have tried to run politics like a ‘Shahi Dawakhana’ from generation to generation, but people have now closed their shops.
“People want development, peace, employment and prosperity. These three families want to take J&K back to the 1980s which we will not allow in any way. We will not allow peace to be disturbed here,” he asserted.
To a question about the attacks of minorities in the Valley, Chugh said, “We are committed to providing security for everyone and those who kill innocents will not be spared”.
“They (the killers) are trying to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere. It is a ploy hatched outside and supported by some people here. We will foil all such designs,” he added.
