Amit Shah terms Congress-NC pre-poll alliance unholy

New Delhi, Aug 23: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah Friday sharply criticised the “unholy, mismatched, and power-hungry” alliance between Congress and National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Shah said that the Congress, which had repeatedly risked the nation’s unity and security to satiate its greed for power, had once again exposed its ulterior motives by allying with the Abdullah family’s National Conference in the J&K assembly elections.

He said that in alliance with Congress, the NC had made several promises in their manifesto that were not only anti-national but also a direct attack on the unity and integrity of the country.

“The great people of India are well aware of the unholy intentions and anti-national conspiracies of Congress and the NC, and they will never allow such plans to succeed,” the Home Minister said.

He posed 10 pointed questions to the Congress and Rahul Gandhi regarding the promises made in the NC’s manifesto.

His first direct question to Congress was: “Does the Congress support the NC’s promise of a separate flag for J&K? On page 27 of the NC’s manifesto, it is mentioned that if their government is formed in J&K, the separate flag will be reinstated.”

Holding Congress accountable, he asked the second question: “Do Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party support the JKNC's decision to restore Article 370 and Article 35A, and thereby push Jammu and Kashmir back into an era of unrest and terrorism? On page 10 of the NC’s manifesto, this intention is mentioned, and it is further reiterated on page 27. The National Conference has promised to reinstate Articles 370 and 35A, overturning the decision of Parliament, as stated in their manifesto. Despite this declaration, Congress has chosen to ally with the NC.”

Shah asked Congress a third question: “Does the Congress support promoting separatism again by engaging in dialogue with Pakistan instead of Kashmir's youth? Page 10 of the NC’s manifesto also includes this promise. It’s widely known that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and separatism have long kept J&K in turmoil, yet Congress appears to be backing a return to that dark era of terror and division in the region.”

His fourth question to Congress is: “Do the Congress and Rahul Gandhi support the NC’s decision to start 'LoC Trade' with Pakistan, thereby nurturing terrorism and its ecosystem across the border? The NC has mentioned this on page 23 of their manifesto.”

The Home Minister’s fifth question to Congress is: “Does Congress support reinstating relatives of those involved in terrorism and stone-pelting into government jobs, thereby bringing back terrorism, extremism, and the era of strikes? The NC mentions this on page 11 of their manifesto, which directly promotes separatism in J&K.”

He said that after the removal of Articles 370 and 35-A, national laws were enforced in J&K, providing constitutional rights to Dalits, backwards, Gujjars, Bakarwals, and Paharis.

Shah said that this had led to an improvement in their standard of living.

In this context, he asked Congress the sixth question, pointing out that the mismatched alliance between Congress and the NC had once again exposed Congress's anti-reservation stance.

“The alliance has exposed the Congress party's anti-reservation stance. Does Congress support the NC's promise to end reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakarwals, and Pahadi communities, thereby inflicting injustice upon them? The NC has expressed this intention on page 22 of their manifesto,” he said.

The Home Minister’s seventh question to Congress is: “Does the Congress want 'Shankaracharya Hill' to be known as 'Takht-e-Suleiman' and 'Hari Parbat' as 'Koh-e-Maran'? If we look at the manifesto of the NC, this is the impression we get, as the NC has clearly stated this on page 21 of its manifesto.”

Shah said that it was well-known that the corruption in the governments of Congress, NC, and PDP had devastated J&K.

Referring to this, he asked the eighth question to the Congress: “Does the Congress support the politics of pushing J&K’s economy back into corruption and handing it over to selected Pakistan-supported families? This appears to be the intention of the NC.”

The Home Minister said Congress, NC, and PDP had consistently discriminated between Kashmir and Jammu and incited people of Kashmir.

“However, the people of Kashmir and Jammu have always thwarted their harmful plans,” he said.

Shah asked the ninth question to Congress on this saying: “Does the Congress support NC's politics of discrimination between Kashmir and Jammu?”

In his 10th question, he asked: “Do the Congress and Rahul Gandhi support the NC's divisive politics of granting autonomy to Kashmir?”

The Home Minister said that Congress should answer all these 10 questions.