Pulwama, Sept 12: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board, Dr. Darakshan Andrabi, said on Thursday that the BJP is the only party to have granted rights and recognition to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) community in India.
Dr. Andrabi made these remarks during a rally at Qasbayar village, located in the Rajpora constituency of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Speaking to the media, Dr. Andrabi highlighted that despite 75 years of independence, it was only the BJP government that had worked to provide the ST community with the respect and opportunities they deserve.
“Our actions match our manifesto,” she said, adding that the government has ensured reservations for the ST community and is committed to extending forest rights and housing facilities to them.
She added that it is crucial for the ST community to benefit from the country’s progress and development initiatives, which have been systematically denied to them by previous governments.
“The governments of NC (National Conference) and PDP (People’s Democratic Party) stripped the ST community of their rights,” she alleged, noting that only the BJP had acted to restore those rights.
The Rajpora constituency has a significant percentage of ST Community in the upper reaches known as Kandi belt.
During the rally, Andrabi also said that their party’s candidate for Rajpora Constituency, Arshad Bhat, is a new and dynamic youth candidate with no prior political background.
She wished a win for their candidate from Rajpora constituency and expressed hope that Bhat’s candidacy would bring a fresh wave of representation and development to the constituency.
Andrabi criticised the political legacy of Rajpora, saying that it had suffered from backwardness for decades due to political gimmicks and a lack of genuine development. She reaffirmed the BJP’s commitment to addressing these long-standing issues.
