BJP Dividing People of J&K; We’ll Make Its ‘Project’ a Failure: Rahul Gandhi

Srinagar: Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to cause divisions, offenses and hostilities in Jammu and Kashmir by pitting one community against the other and one tribe against the other to win some votes. He vowed to defeat the saffron party’s “project” by spreading love and taking everyone along.

“Wherever they go, they try to pit one community against the other, one religion against the other, one language against the other and one state against the other to divide the society. Here in J&K, they are trying to put the Gujjars and Paharis at loggerheads. But their project will meet with failure. We will make it a failure by taking everyone along and giving everyone his due right,” he said while addressing Congress-National Conference combine rallies in capital of Srinagar and the border town of Surankote.

Asserting that the I.N.D.I.A. alliance strongly believes in egalitarianism, he said, “We consider everyone to be equal, regardless of their religion, race, gender, age, or region. We will move forward by taking everyone along.”

Mr. Gandhi said that it is not just J&K but other states and regions of the country as well where the BJP and the RSS “spread hatred 24x7.” He alleged, “Wherever they go, they set one brother against the other. Be it J & K, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or Manipur, all they do is to spread hatred. Their politics is about spreading hate”.

The Congress leader said that he, however, strongly believes that hatred cannot be defeated by spreading hatred but by giving love, care, and support. “Therefore, it is a fight of ideology. On one side, you have the people who spread hatred and, on the other, the people who have opened ‘Mohabat ki Dukaan’ in every nook and cranny of the country. That was the object of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra,” he said. He took pride in spreading love “being the history, culture and tradition of the people of J&K.”

He reiterated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been wrecked psychologically. “The Narendra Modi with a ‘56-inch chest’ is no more there. You see him from a distance, but I observe him very closely in the Parliament. He is not the Narendra Modi of the past. The I.N.D.I.A. alliance has fragmented him psychologically. Whatever the opposition wants, it gets it done. If they bring a bill (in Parliament) and we stand up against it, they fail to get it passed. Then they come up with a new bill,” he said, adding, “We have achieved it through love and not meeting hatred with hatred”.

Renewing the I.N.D.I.A. alliance’s commitment to the restoration of J&K’s statehood, he said, “We had heard and seen Union territories being made states and states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar being bifurcated to carve out two states out of these but in was for the first time in the history of the country that a state -J&K- was split up into two Union territories. We had expected they would restore the statehood of J&K before the elections for its Assembly. We will build pressure on them (BJP-led government) to restore its statehood and if they don’t do it, we will do it when we come to power.”

He said that with bifurcating J&K, the Modi government “snatched all democratic rights of the people” of the erstwhile state. “You have no say in decision-making. The decisions on J&K are being taken in Delhi and those who rule the roost here are outsiders. Earlier you would be governed by your own people and the decisions they would take would be in your interest. Your government is run from Delhi. We want your government to be run from J&K”, he said. He added, "There is a Raja -the Lieutenant Governor- sitting at the Raj Bhawan here who doesn't know about the heartbeat of people here...he doesn't know what kind of development the people of J&K want."

He accused the Modi government of spreading unemployment rates everywhere in the country. “The situation in J&K is not any different. This government is helping two-three billionaires. Adani and Ambani are having control over businesses. The demonetisation, flawed GST and other misplaced decisions and policies have ruined small and medium businesses and industries. Modi waived off the loans of his 25 billionaire friends amounting to Rs16 lakh crores,” he said.

He asked the people of J&K to approach him whenever the need arises. “My doors will always remain open for you. Whenever you think I can be of any help, please do come to me. Do tell me, if you have an issue to be raised in the Parliament. You just ask for it; I will do it,” he said amid applause from the audience.

At the Srinagar rally, he added, "My relationship with you (people of Kashmir) is not political. Ours is a relationship rooted in love and belongingness. It is a blood relationship."

Former J&K Chief Minister and NC president Farooq Abdullah also spoke the rally at Surankote and while endorsing Mr. Gandhi’s call for opening shops of love in every knock and corner of the country said, “I want to add to it…let us also throw their vehicle of hatred into the sea.”