Excelsior Correspondent
BASOHLI/BILLAWAR, Sept 10 : Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh alleged here today that Congress was responsible for halting the development of Billawar-Basohli region and also for denying the district status to this region.
On the sidelines of “Har-Ghar-Bhajpa, Door-to-Door” campaign and after addressing a massive public rally at Billawar in support of the BJP nominee Satish Sharma, Dr Jitendra Singh, while speaking to the media, said that unfortunately Basohli suffered primarily because over the last 10 years, it was represented by legislators who were busy in jumping from one political party to the other and had no time to devote on the development of the region. At the same time, he said, Congress MLAs from Basohli and Billawar were more keen to keep their Kashmir-centric masters in good humour to ensure from themselves perks and privileges of office and were always cautious that if they speak for their constituency, they may invite displeasure of their masters and lose the loaves and fishes of office.
Dr Jitendra Singh also accused Congress Party of denying district status to Basohli and Billawar. He said, when the District Reorganisation Committee was constituted, it was the Congress Government in the State and the BJP had very vociferously demanded separate district status for the region but the Congress Party in order to keep its Kashmir-centric masters happy followed an approach of appeasement, as a result of which, while smaller districts were carved out injudiciously, this region was deliberately denied a district status.
When the BJP Government comes to power in Jammu & Kashmir, said Dr Jitendra Singh, one of the first decisions would be to grant the district status to Billawar and Basohli. He said, this has been a BJP resolve and in the BJP organisational structure, this region is already treated as a separate district.
Whatever development has happened in the region, said Dr Jitendra Singh, was possible only in the last 5 years under the Modi Government after the abrogation of Article 370. He said, during this period, Basohli paintings and Basohli shawls gained GI tag. It was also during this period, said Dr Jitendra Singh that a number of new roadway links were constructed and Degree colleges allotted.
Appealing for a vote for BJP, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the only option to ensure a fair deal for this region is that we have a BJP MLA to articulate the concerns of the region in the next J&K State Assembly. When the MLA, MP and the local body representative… all happen to be from BJP which in turn is guided by the principles and values of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this would be an assured way of ensuring development of the region and also defining an important role for the region in J&K’s growth story, he said.
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