Jammu, April 16 (UNI) Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Youth and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur, said on Tuesday that Articles 370 and 35A were the mistakes of Jawahar Lal Nehru and Congress, due to which the development of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was hampered.
"PM Modi has corrected their mistakes. We conducted Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Today there has been a 75 percent reduction in the incidents of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, and stone pelting has stopped," said Thakur, addressing public meetings at Parade Ground Jammu and Gulabgarh Stadium in Kishtwar he appealed to vote in favour of BJP.
Civilian deaths have decreased by 81 percent and security personnel deaths have decreased by 50 percent, he said, adding that be it the six-lane highway from Jammu to Katra, IIT, IIM, or AIIMS hospital, along with 11 medical colleges or Kendriya Vidyalaya, today all the big projects have come up in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Due to the new industrial package, big industries are also coming here, and new opportunities of employment and self-employment are becoming available for the youth here," he said, adding that in Jammu today, family-based parties have stopped the development of Jammu and Kashmir, whereas PM Modi has given new wings to the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
"There is immense enthusiasm about the elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Like the rest of the country, the lotus will bloom here too because the people of the INDI Alliance divide the country in the name of caste, religion, region, and language, and we unite them," he stated.
In view of his election programmes, Thakur said that Kishtwar and Udhampur are getting the opportunity to vote first in the entire country, and the enthusiasm of the people here shows that the lotus is sure to bloom from here.
He said, “The development of Jammu and Kashmir was stopped by the dynastic parties, whereas Modi has given new wings to the development of Jammu and Kashmir."
"Today, after the removal of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir is actually moving forward by joining India. Last year, more than 2 crore and 10 lakh tourists came to Jammu and Kashmir. In the coming
years, this figure will cross 3 crores," said Thakur.
Describing Omar Abdullah's call of Bharatiya Janata Party as an anti-Muslim party in Jammu and Kashmir as baseless, Thakur said, "The work of these dynastic parties is only to spread lies, confusion, and corruption. I would like to tell Omar Abdullah that CAA is a law to give citizenship, not to take it. These include people who came to India before 2014 and had to face persecution on the basis of religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. Some people were spreading this misconception that if Modi comes, Muslims will be eliminated."
"Everyone saw that Modi has worked in the spirit of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas and has done the work of giving the rights of the Gurjar-Bakarwal community in Jammu and Kashmir, which Congress has not given for 70 years. Paddar of Kishtwar was declared a tribal area by the Modi government, whose widespread benefits are being seen here."
Thakur said that under the leadership of PM Modi, our government has worked in the last 10 years with the basic mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas.
"We opened the Kartarpur Corridor, which was abandoned since the time of Nehru, made the ropeway reach Hemkund Sahib, celebrated the 400th Prakash Parv of Guru Teg Bahadur Singh Ji, and celebrated the 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Ji. Along with this, other religions were also given the freedom to follow their worship methods," he added.
Thakur further said, "Modi saved every penny of the country in his 10 years and invested it in the welfare of the poor. During the time of Congress, the agriculture budget was Rs 27000 crore; we increased it to Rs 1 lakh 25 thousand crore."
Before 2014, there were 74 airports in the country; today, there are around 150. Earlier, there were around 90 lakh kilometres of highways; today, there are around 1.50 crore kilometers. Before 2014, there were 3 lakh, 20 thousand kilometres of rural roads; today, there are 6 lakh, 95 thousand kilometres of rural roads. In 2014, there was not even a single train like Vande Bharat; today, 41 Vande Bharat trains are running in the country, he said.
In 2014, there were 21000 kilometres of electrified trains; today, there are 41000 kilometres of electrified trains. In 2014, only five cities had metros; today, 20 cities have metros. There were only 7 AIIMS in 2014; today there are 22 AIIMS. There were 384 medical colleges in 2014; today, there are more than 700. In 2014, there were 450 universities in the country; today, there are more than 1100. India placed the world's largest order of 1000 aircraft till date, and with this, India has the highest number of female pilots in the world, i.e., 14 percent, said the Minister.
Today, more than 10,000 women are included in the Indian Army. If anyone has given 33 percent reservation to women from Assembly to Lok Sabha, it is Modi who has given it. While G20 was successfully organised in the new India, now we will also prepare to organise the Olympics, adding, "If you make Modi the Prime Minister for the third time, we will make the country the third largest economy in the world. During the time of Congress, our defence budget was Rs 3 lakh 70 thousand crores; today, it is Rs 6 lakh 8 thousand crores. Today, our army has Rafale jets. Tejas aircraft are being built."
Today, weapons ranging from the BrahMos missile to the latest AK-203 have arrived. During the Congress rule, our soldiers did not even have bullet-proof jackets. Modi gave more than 2 lakh bullet-proof jackets to the army in the first four years after coming to power. Modi built a war memorial and a police memorial in Delhi. Modi had said that we would give one rank and one pension. Today, a pension worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore has been given to our army brothers, said Thakur, who praised the courage of the people of Udhampur for not migrating and staying in Jammu and Kashmir even amidst terrorism and separatism. While talking to the media, he said that the people here are ready to once again bloom the lotus and support Dr. Jitendra Singh, and they are determined to make Sunil Sharma victorious because they have seen real development in the last 10 years."
In response to a question related to sports schemes in the area, Thakur said that when we gave tribal status here, built roads, schools, colleges, and universities, provided health facilities, and fulfilled the age-old demand. We will develop sports here.
Further, in response to the demand for Eklavya Vidyalayas in the region, Thakur said, "We are building 740 Eklavya Vidyalayas across the country at a cost of Rs 38,000 crore. Thousands of teaching and non-teaching staff will be recruited in it. We celebrated Tribal Pride Day on the birth anniversary of Lord Birsa Munda. It is Modi ji who has given a new identity to tribal identity."
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