Cong demands polls in J&K, says need to stop rule by bureaucracy

New Delhi : Congress has demanded that elections be held in Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the Supreme Court set deadline so that the people can elect their representatives, secure Constitutional rights and put a full stop to the mechanism of being 'ruled by bureaucracy'.

The party's national president, Mallikarjun Kharge said on Monday that BJP's policy on Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh neither respects 'Kashmiriyat' nor upholds 'Jamhuriyat'.

The statement comes on the fifth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370. The Centre on this day in 2019 abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into J&K and Ladakh union territories.

Kharge said that the Modi government had claimed that this move would help to fully integrate J&K, boost the economic development of the region and prevent terrorism and separatism. However, the reality is starkly different, he said.

The Congress chief said that since 2019, there have been 683 fatal terror attacks, resulting in the martyrdom of 258 security personnel and the loss of 170 civilian lives. Notably, 25 terror attacks have occurred in the Jammu region since PM Modi's third oath, claiming the lives of 15 soldiers and injuring 27. Targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits have become a norm in the past few years.

"A staggering 65 per cent of government department posts in Jammu and Kashmir remain vacant since 2019. The unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 10 per cent, with an alarming 18.3 per cent youth unemployment rate. Despite the introduction of the New Industrial Policy in 2021, a mere 3 per cent of investments have materialised on the ground. 40 per cent of projects under the PM's Development Package, 2015, remain pending," Kharge added.

The congress president said that Jammu & Kashmir's net state domestic product (NSDP) growth rate has declined from 13.28 per cent (April 2015 - March 2019) to 8.73 per cent post-2019.

"The people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh yearn for normalcy, a sentiment they conveyed to Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Indian National Congress stands firmly with the people of these regions, which are an integral part of India," Kharge said.