Jammu, Oct 31: Rattan Lal Gupta, Provincial President of J&K National Conference on Tuesday castigated BJP leadership in J&K for “rubbing salt on the wounds” of gallant Dogras by celebrating Foundation Day of UT of J&K, claiming that the day has demeaned the glory of this marshal community as the erstwhile J&K State was “cut into pieces”.
In a statement issued here, the senior NC leader said that people having the slightest idea of the formation of the erstwhile State of J&K know well how bravely Maharaja Gulab Singh and his late General Zorawar Singh had fought to expand his empire from the boundaries of Punjab upto China and Tibet making erstwhile State of J&K including Ladakh one of the biggest states in the country (area wise).
He termed it unfortunate that the local BJP leadership “backstabbed” the “valiant” people of J&K to allow the Centre to slice the State into two UTs and leave the people at the mercy of bureaucrats who uncontrolled inflation and unemployment.
“J&K was a prosperous state but by mishandling the situation, the BJP government lowered the dignity of people by showing no inclination towards the problems being faced by the people, it has turned them into second-class citizens as for every cause whether toll plaza, smart meter mismanagement, recruitment scams, etc. they have to fight for their rights,” he said.
The senior NC leader said that BJP leadership knows the mistakes it had committed in J&K and that is the reason it is advocating to defer polls in the region as the decimation of the saffron party is inevitable. “On one side, HM Amit Shah claims that the power in J&K has been divided into the hands of 30,000 people but on the other hand, the BJP government is shirking to hold polls fearing a debacle and in this course has dented the democracy badly,” he said
The Provincial President said under the incumbent government development has become elusive with healthcare centres running without medicos, industries becoming defunct with new ventures seen nowhere. The condition of roads, electricity and water supply is also in worse conditions, he said
“Corruption is also touching skies as the case of IAS Officer Parmar, who became a whistleblower in case of rampant corruption in Jal Shakti Department,” he added.
Rattan Lal Gupta said that BJP leadership has proved to be a damp squib for J&K and therefore people should give a chance to the National Conference to once again rectify things and restore the pristine glory of J&K and its people.
