INDIA bloc will hit the road if J&K statehood not restored after polls: Rahul Gandhi

JAMMU: Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the INDIA bloc will use its full force within Parliament and even hit the road if the BJP-led government fails to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir after the ongoing assembly elections.

Addressing a public rally in support of party candidates here, the former Congress president said a grave injustice was done with the people of Jammu and Kashmir when the erstwhile state was divided into two union territories in 2019.

This was his third visit to Jammu and Kashmir in the past nearly three weeks. He visited Banihal and Dooru constituencies on September 4 ahead of the first phase of assembly polls on September 18. His visit to Surankote and Central-Shalteng came on September 23, two days ahead of the second phase of polls September 25.

Immediately after reaching Jammu on Wednesday, Gandhi held an interaction with professionals at a hotel before moving to the JK Resort Ground to address a public rally.

Reiterating his resolve to work for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, Gandhi said, “This has never happened in the history of India that we have taken away statehood and transformed a state into UT.”

“It should have never happened and I guarantee you that if the BJP is not going to restore the statehood (after elections), we — the INDIA alliance — will use our full force in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and even come on the roads for the restoration of statehood to J&K,’ he told the rally.

He alleged that the statehood was snatched from J&K to benefit “outsiders” through Lt Governor.

“As long as the Lt Governor is there, outsiders will benefit and the locals will be sidelined. This was the reason that statehood was snatched from J&K. They wanted J&K to be run by outsiders and not locals,” he said.

He told the crowd that the restoration of statehood is “your right and your future” and J&K cannot move forward without it.

He said there was a systematic attack on small and medium businesses in the rest of the country as well.

“This government runs for Ambani and Adani. And the GST and demonetization were weapons used to clear the road for them.”

He also criticised the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative by calling it ‘make in Adani’ programme, and claiming that all the contracts under the policy was being given to the business conglomerate Adani.

He accused the BJP government and the Lt Governor of breaking the backbone of Jammu which was the central hub of Jammu and Kashmir, facilitating a smooth flow of the production chain from the Valley to the rest of the country. (PTI)