Jammu, Jan 22- Senior BJP leader Devender Singh Rana Sunday lashed out at the Congress for playing second fiddle to PAGD, an amalgam of the political entities supporting soft separatism and deriving oxygen from secessionists responsible for destruction and devastation of Kashmir for over three decades.
“It is an irony that 137-year-old Congress is feeling elated to become as the B-team of the PAGD, an opportunistic alliance formed three years ago in desperate bid to gain the lost ground and the cradle of power in Jammu and Kashmir,” Rana said while talking to media persons on the sidelines of a function after participating in the annual Maha Yagya at Shri Baba Satto Sidh Ji Maharaj temple at Jandyal.
Rana said it is a sad day in the history of the country that the Congress, which was an integral part of the freedom movement of our nation, cannot stand up for the national interest on issues in order to appease a group that thrives on disruptive politics.
He said the Congress must remember that the nation is supreme and its integrity and sovereignty cannot be compromised.
The BJP leader said the founders of the Congress would not have thought even in their wildest of dreams such a scenario unfolding. “However, the grand old party is not to be blamed for seeking solace and refuge under the umbrella of fringe elements in Indian politics, keeping in view the drubbing it has been getting across the country since nearly a decade”.
“The bonhomie and unholy alliance between the Congress and the PAGD can be summed up as the last hope of the discarded dynastic politics, he added.
“By now, the Yatra managers and the PAGD enthusiasts must have tested their relevance on ground with the people giving contemptuous response to the Congress misadventure,” Rana said, adding that populism can hog headlines but not convince the politically sagacious people of Jammu and Kashmir, who have seen the ugliest face of the misgovernance over the decades.
He said the three parties can fool the people once, twice but not all times to come. Those raising emotive and exploitative slogans stand exposed in both the regions and the people.
Rana said the Congress, PDP and the NC trio is a bad omen for Jammu and Kashmir, which wants turbulence to continue for sustenance of their political enterprise.
“The peace and normalcy in the Valley for the past three years, with stone pelting and the hartal culture becoming a nightmare of the past, is an eye opener for the people, who can see through the game-plan of the power hungry and self-centred in turbulent Kashmir,” he added.
The people are openly asking questions as to who was behind these sinister machinations that crumbled the economy and put brakes on the tourist influx with the majority of people being directly and indirectly engaged, he said.
Devender Rana referred to the normal economic activity going on in Jammu and Kashmir in general and the Valley in particular that has brought cheer on the faces of the people. At a time, the ‘Todo Yatra’ is heading towards Kashmir, the Valley is abuzz with unprecedented tourist arrivals, particularly the nature lovers and sports persons, who want to make this mesmerizing winter memorable in their lives, he added.
