National Conference President and Member of Parliament from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah on Monday said that the BJP’s manoeuvres in Jammu and Kashmir have left people in lurch, saying nothing is going to bail them out as the people have made a point to punish them through their votes.
Addressing one-day convention of the party in Batote, he said BJP stands discredited and isolated for its myopic politics. “They stand exposed for their duplicity, deception and self-centered agenda, which has taken a heavy toll on the people’s lives. All their acts are guided by brazen biases and short sighted politics. None of their acts are aimed at solving people’s issues. So far they have only deepened the issues faced by people, the people of Chenab valley have particularly been left to God’s mercy,” he said.
Assailing BJP for wielding delimitation as a weapon to establish it’s hegemony in Jammu and Kashmir, he said the geographical argument put forth by commission in carving out new constituencies was a smokescreen and that had the BJP been sincere about giving balanced representation to Chenab and Pir Panjal region then Warwan, Marwah and Dashan would have been given an assembly seat.
“In reality, the far-flung areas of Jammu region have totally been ignored. BJP doesn’t think beyond self-interests . Having diminished their deposit with the people , BJP is now trying to conquer the region through back doors by gerrymandering constituencies and bringing outside voters. All they want is to capture the power,” the former chief minister said.
On employment avenues, Abdullah said far from providing jobs to Jammu youth, the BJP led central government is snatching jobs. “What they have done so far is open the floodgates for outsiders in the Jammu region. All the jobs, mining contracts are being outsourced. The marginal traders and retail sector businesses of Jammu are also inching towards disaster. Thousands of youngsters in Jammu are idling away without jobs despite having degrees. Unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir is a manufactured reality as the sole by-product of BJP’s incapacitated policymaking. Our youth are yearning for a sigh of relief,” he added.
Exhorting the people, particularly youth, to register as voters, Farooq said, “This time we will be voting for the future of our younger generation. This time it’s about protecting our culture, our unique identity and our individuality. There is no scope for complacency. No one is going to help us. We all have to register for voting and subsequently vote in large numbers to stop BJP from achieving its nefarious designs that aim to disempower local Kashmiris, Gujjars, Dogras, Paharis,” he said.