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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were being closely watched by the entire world following the massive turnout. |
Addressing a large Bharatiya Janata Party election rally in border district town of Kathua in the Jammu region, Modi said the people of the state have proved that the power of democracy was far greater than the AK-47 rifle.
“The world is watching these elections because of the massive participation by the people,” he said.
Modi expressed happiness over what he called seeing a new hope and expectation on the faces of the people of Kashmir.
“I am happy your dreams have come alive and you have decided to realise these.
“It is my good fortune that in Jammu and Kashmir, no leader from any other party has had the opportunity to see so many people as I have been able to see.
“Whether it was Ladakh or any other part of Jammu and Kashmir, people of the state have given so much love to nobody else and I will return this to you with interest,” he said.
“Your love for me will be returned through development and prosperity.”
Modi said people making guesses on television screens about who will form the next government in Kashmir “should come and see the people here before doing their electoral arithmetic.”
“I am addressing you from a place where Pakistan is on the other side and border firings take place frequently, but the people of this land do not run away because of fear. I have come to salute these brave people who hear the loud noises of bullets on the border each day.”
He said governments are formed in democracies to address the problems of the people, “but I ask you, have your problems been addressed?”
Modi said the BJP never had a state government in Kashmir and people know who their “sinners” were.
“Unless you punish those sinners, they will not understand,” he said. The prime minister said the Congress was now blaming the National Conference for not allowing it to fulfil its programmes, and asked why it continued to remain in the government with the NC.
He again hit out at the NC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), terming them “dynastic” parties.
“Aren’t children of other families talented to run the state of Jammu and Kashmir? Why should only father-and-son party (NC) and father-and-daughter party (PDP) be allowed to come to power,” he asked.
Modi asked the people to see the democratic functioning of the BJP “which made it possible for the son of a tea-stall owner to become the prime minister.”
“Your sons and daughters are second to none. Come forward and make it possible for your sons and daughters to run this country,” he told the gathering.
Eighteen constituencies will vote today in the fourth and penultimate phase assembly elections in Kashmir.
Today’s round may well decide who will be the dominant player in the Kashmir Valley - the ruling NC or the PDP.
Some 1.4mn voters will be eligible to decide the fate of political heavyweights like Chief Minister and NC leader Omar Abdullah and former chief minister Mufti Mohamed Sayeed of the PDP.
The constituencies are spread over four districts of Srinagar, Anantnag and Shopian in the Muslim-majority valley and Samba district in Hindu-majority Jammu region.
Abdullah is contesting from Sonwar in Srinagar and Sayeed from Anantnag.
In the outgoing assembly, nine of the 18 seats were held by the NC, six by the PDP, two by the Congress and one by the Panthers Party.
The prospect of who governs Kashmir depends chiefly on which of these two rivals is able to make inroads into each other’s political strongholds.
This in turn will largely decide who gets the controlling stakes in the next assembly.
It is generally agreed that no single party will get a majority on its own in the 87-member legislature.
