Not allowing us to enter J-K showed situation not normal: CPI's D Raja

MUMBAI: A day after he and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury were sent back from the Srinagar airport, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja on Saturday said the government's action showed that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was not normal.

Addressing party workers here, Raja also asked them to help with relief work in western Maharashtra which is reeling under massive floods.

"Yesterday, we tried to go to Jammu and Kashmir, but we were not allowed to get out of the airport. It shows the situation is not normal there (after the abrogation of Article 370)," he said.

The Left leaders had gone to Srinagar to meet CPI(M) leader Md Tarigami and other party colleagues.

Referring to the NDA government's claim that special status of Jammu and Kashmir was withdrawn for the sake of its development, Raja asked if other parts of the country were any better off.

"The economy is in bad shape. Two crore jobs a year was promised, but nothing happened. Nothing happened on the promise of bringing back black money," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the slogan "sab ka sath, sab ka vikas" (taking along everyone, development for everyone), the communist leader said.

"But soon people understood that "sab ka sath" meant only the 'sath' of (support for) big corporates and business houses and not the common people," he said.

He also accused the government of branding those who question it as "anti-nationals" and "Naxalite".

On Maharashtra assembly polls, Raja said the party was yet to decide its strategy and the number of seats to be contested.