Govt unmoved as power, water crisis deepens in Jammu division: Bhalla

Jammu, May 31: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Working President Raman Bhalla who contested from the Jammu-Reasi Parliamentary on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of putting Jammu’s interests and development subservient to the “personal vested agenda for remaining glued to power”.
“Despite being in power at the Centre and in the State, the party failed miserably on the governance front and let down Jammu on all fronts,” he said, adding, “The BJP has nothing to showcase as its achievement, least to fulfilling liberal promises during elections.”
Interacting with booth agents here, Bhalla said the heatwave has triggered a severe water and power crisis in several areas of the Jammu division, but authorities have failed to set up control rooms and appoint nodal officers in each district to cater to public complaints.
“Over the past week, several places, particularly Jammu city, have faced major water and power shortages, leading to public protests, and the stopping of a Vande Bharat train at a railway station but nothing happened on the ground,” he said, adding that water supply is not regular in almost entire of the Jammu city and its peripheries.
The JKPCC leader accused the BJP of reversing some of the prestigious projects launched during the tenure of the Congress government. “Not only on the front of development but equally in terms of instilling a sense of confidence among the people, the BJP desperately failed,” he added.
Bhalla said that being a representative of the people, he has been pursuing all those connected with development to give push to the schemes and projects aimed at the overall development and welfare of various areas and different segments of society. “The BJP-led government at the Centre has miserably failed to live up to the expectations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. There is a strong resentment among people against the government as the BJP leadership has failed to fulfill its promises that were made at the time of both parliamentary and the assembly elections. The BJP has played with the sentiments of the people who voted them to power. People are not happy with their policies,” he said.
The Congress leader said the Modi government has failed to bring prices under control. “The common man is suffering due to unprecedented price rise of all essential commodities and unreasonable taxes,” he said.
Raman Bhalla said that Congress believes in an inclusive and prosperous J&K that does not discriminate on the basis of religion, caste, class, language, region or creed. “The principles envisaged by Congress helped us unite as a people. The road ahead of us is rough. We have to keep up with our fight for the restoration of our infringed rights and on another front we have to ensure the well-being of our people. Ours is the party that defines the soul of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.