Jammu, July 30: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) working president Raman Bhalla on Sunday attacked the government on the issues of employment and prices of essentials, saying it has ‘forgotten” the poor and middle class, and is “busy” in “increasing the wealth of capitalists”.
“The BJP will not be allowed to divert the attention of people from issues concerning them,” Bhalla said while addressing the “aggrieved” people of the Bahu Fort Masha Mohlla Bahu constituency.
He slammed the government for the installation of smart meters and launching a prepaid system for electricity in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the present UT government “is leaving no stone unturned to torment the people”. “The people are dejected over the power bills, which are contrary to their monthly consumption. He demanded that the installation of smart meters and the implementation of a prepaid system for electricity be stopped immediately in the interest of the poor masses.
Bhalla in the statement said, “The BJP government, which is busy in increasing the wealth of capitalists and collecting taxes from the public, has forgotten the poor and middle-class families. The youth are unemployed and if there is any employment, then the income is low and there are no savings due to inflation. The poor are yearning to eat and the middle class is yearning to save.”
He also said that the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ was “a pledge to remove hatred, remove inflation, unemployment and bring equality – and to stop the BJP to divert attention from public issues”.
The Congress leader said there is “uncertainty” prevailing in J&K. “Despite the fact that thousands of youths in J&K are getting professional degrees and diplomas every year there is no concrete policy from the government for their absorption in the government sector. The youth are feeling cheated due to hollow policies of BJP leadership,” he said.
The former minister accused the J&K administration of adopting a callous attitude towards weaker sections of society. “The people residing in urban areas are crying for the very basic necessity i.e. drinking water, the scarcity of which has hit almost every urban area not to talk of the rural areas,” he said.
Bhalla asked the party workers to remain present among the people at the grassroots level and address their day-to-day problems. He asked them to make people aware of the achievements of the party, especially during the Congress regime, in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.
He also hit out at the BJP for “destroying” the identity, status, and rights of the people and said the Centre is “deliberately” delaying the assembly elections in the union territory. “BJP was trying to postpone the elections on one pretext or the other. “BJP is scared to face people in the wake of its multiple betrayals,” he said.
