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 in Jammu, Gandhi said a grave injustice was done to 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 last nearly three weeks. He visited Banihal and Dooru constituencies on September 4 ahead of the first phase of assembly elections on September 18. His visit to Surankote and Central-Shalteng came on September 23, two days ahead of the second phase of polls on September 25.
Immediately after reaching Jammu on Wednesday, the former Congress president 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, he 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 alleged that the statehood was snatched from J&K to benefit “outsiders” through the lieutenant governor (L-G). “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 added.
Gandhi further 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.
He accused the BJP government and the L-G of breaking the backbone of Jammu, which was the central hub of the UT, facilitating a smooth flow of the production chain from the Valley to the rest of the country.
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