Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president and former minister Vikar Rasool Wani on Sunday said that joblessness, recruitment scams and price rise were the hallmarks of UT administration under BJP regime and asked people to “teach BJP a lesson in coming elections.”
Addressing a workers’ rally at Bishnah today along with working president Raman Bhalla and other senior leaders, Vikar Rasool lashed out at the BJP for, what he said, “fake and hollow promises during polls.” “The party (BJP) only gave joblessness, number of recruitment scams and unprecedented price rise during its tenure,” he alleged.
The rally was organised by senior leader Shashi Sharma. Besides JKPCC president and vice president, it was also addressed by former minister Yogesh Sawhney, ex-MLC Ravinder Sharma, former MP T S Bajwa, former minister Gurbachan Kumari, NSUI national president Neeraj Kundan, treasurer Rajnish Sharma, ex youth president Pranav Shagotra, Sewa Dal chairman Vijay Sharma Babbi, DCC rural president Hari Singh Chib and JKPYC president Uday Bhanu Chib.
Vikar alleged that the BJP regime destroyed Jammu and Kashmir by depriving it of its identity, status and stripping its citizens of their rights over jobs, lands, opportunities of trade and transport and business. “Whatsoever selections or recruitments were done in the UT, they were marred by corruption and scams. People were exploited in the name of a bright future, control on prices and two crore jobs annually. But today all promises have fallen flat. The party (BJP) is resorting to politics of hate and division, maligning previous governments and selling national assets created by Congress in sixty years,” he claimed.
Demonetisation and wrong economic policies led to joblessness and unprecedented price hike, JKPCC president alleged while adding, “Huge taxes are being imposed on common man to please the crony capitalism while lakhs crores of bank loans of big capitalists are being waived off under Modi government,” he further alleged.
JKPCC president asserted that Congress was the only viable secular alternative to “divisive policies of BJP which vitiated the political, social, secular and democratic atmosphere in the country and in Jammu and Kashmir.” He appealed to people to support Congress’ struggle to bring back statehood, rights to land and jobs and bring it back to power in next elections.
Addressing the gathering, the working president lashed out at BJP for, what he alleged, “its failures on all fronts and destroying the historical state and pushing the people especially youth and poor into great sufferings.”
“Kashmir has become more unsafe for minorities and outside people including the peace loving locals under the UT regime, remote controlled by BJP. The Kashmiri minorities and Jammu employees are being forced to serve in sensitive areas at the cost of their lives and not paid salaries. The daily wagers, need based, anganwadi, ASHA workers, NYC and various categories of contractual adhoc employees are suffering after over decade of services and promises are not being fulfilled. There are either no or very meagre job opportunities against huge unemployment due to wrong policies of BJP in the last nine years,” he added.
Bhalla claimed that right from Pandit Nehru to Dr Manmohan Singh, Congress brought the nation and state a lot of prosperity and created prestigious institutions and job opportunities but destroyed everything. He asked people to show mirror to the BJP in the next elections to bring the people’s government to resolve the issues of all sections.
President All India NSUI Neeraj Kundan lambasted BJP for the “politics of hate and division.” Yogesh Sawhney said that Congress alone could fight the division agenda of BJP and other secular forces should support Congress efforts.
Ravinder Sharma said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was leading ‘Bharat Jodo’ yatra to unite the country and highlight real issues being faced by the country. He appealed to all secular forces and those opposed to BJP to join the yatra and struggle.