Congress spurring violence, mayhem in north-east to stay in power: Centre

New Delhi: Holding the Congress responsible for militancy and economic blockade in the north-east region, Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh said the disruption was a conspiracy of the Congress for retaining political power.

"Most of the disruption, discontent and strife were engineered by the Congress party and its government. They conspired that one section of the society should stand up against the other, there should be violence, there should be disruption and in this mayhem and confusion they continue being in power," Singh said.

Expressing excitement over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming rally in Manipur, Singh said that people of Manipur are expecting a breakage of the decade old tradition of corruption and exploitation.

"The entire Manipur is in a mood for change, they are actually tired of the one and a half decade of corruption, exploitation and lack of development and therefore they wish to be a part of the mainstream journey of development led by the Prime Minister so that they could also reap the same benefits which are being utilized by the other BJP ruled states," said he.

"The people and the youth of Manipur who have been taken for a ride for more than a decade in the name of jobs and in the name of underemployment now wish to usher into a new era," he added.

The minister also condemned Jammu and Kashmir former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah's remarks over Kashmiri youth picking up arms for freedom of the valley saying that such statements are only being made because the party has been left out of power.

"There are a certain Kashmir centric political leaders, the so called mainstream political leaders including some of the former chief ministers who when in power swear by India, swear by Jammu and Kashmir being an integral part of India, but the moment they are shunted out of power they overnight become wiser and they start questioning the status of Kashmir and the relationship of Kashmir with the rest of India," said Singh.

Farooq Abdullah, while addressing the workers at the Nawa-e-Subh party headquarters in Srinagar had said that the Kashmiri youth were sacrificing their lives to solve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Today, when our boys are rendering sacrifices, they are not aspiring to become MLAs, MPs or ministers. They are giving sacrifices to demand their right. This is our land and we are its rightful owners," Abdullah said.

The statement came days after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat warned stone pelters not to interfere with army operations in Kashmir.