Senior leaders of National Conference on Wednesday exuded confidence about forming a stable, strong and people friendly government in Jammu and Kashmir on its own, saying the biggest challenge would be to address the political aspirations of the people of all the three regions, reviving developmental activities and generating jobs for youth.
“National Conference is the only party having its vibrantpresence in every nook and corner of the state”, General Secretary Ali MohammedSagar said while addressing workers of Nowshera and Kalakote assemblyconstituencies at Sunderbani, during first leg of the two-day tour of Rajouriand Poonch districts, this afternoon, a party handout said.
Sagar referred to the recent win of National Conference onall the three parliamentary seats it contested and exuded confidence that theparty will emerge hugely victorious in the assembly elections.
He recalled the performance of the party in 1996 assemblyelections when National Conference bagged 57 seats in the state, 17 in theJammu region. “It is because of the deep rooted presence and vibrant cadre baseof the party across the state”, he added.
Sagar stressed the need for preserving the “idea of India”by promoting and strengthening its inclusive ethos. He said National Conference has shown theway during most testing times of history by upholding the spirit of communalharmony, which continues to remain its political philosophy.
On the overall political situation in the State, the GeneralSecretary said a discernible change can be brought about under the “able anddynamic” leadership of Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah.
The General Secretary urged the Governor’s administrationfor stepping up development and strengthening of grievance redressal mechanism,as people were suffering on account of various services.
He also sought special attention towards employmentgeneration, keeping in view disenchantment among the educated unemployed youth.
Speaking on the occasion, Provincial President DevenderSingh Rana said that National Conference is a force to reckon with, which isall set to give the state a strong and vibrant government on its own.
“We are going toimprove our 1996 tally, given the overwhelming support of the people”, Ranasaid, adding that the first and foremost task would be to assuage the regionaland sub-regional aspirations and putting the state back on the rails ofdevelopment and progress.
He accused the previous PDP-BJP dispensation of derailingthe developmental tempo initiated and sustained by successive NationalConference dispensations.
The thread left in 2014 is to be picked again to givemomentum to development, job creation and instilling a sense of security amongthe people, he maintained.
Rana blamed the PDP and the BJP for failing the people ofthe state, especially those living in the border, remote and backward areas.”The insensitive dispensation, which betrayed the people all over, virtuallyleft the border dwellers in lurch,” he said.
“We will have to undothe wrongs committed by the BJP and the PDP”, Rana said.