BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi slams Rahul Gandhi's 'restoring statehood to J&K' remark

New Delhi, Sep 05: Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday slammed Rahul Gandhi for his remark that INDIA bloc will "restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir" after coming to power, saying the Congress leader is still trapped in his feudal mindset and arrogance.

Addressing a rally in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, asserted that the next INDIA bloc government will restore statehood to J&K if the current BJP-led government fails to do so during its tenure.

"In J&K, his party and family members have ruthlessly and shamelessly shattered happiness, development, and trust of the people. Even after all these, if he claims that they will bring prosperity to J&K, that prosperity will not be for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but for the separatists there," Naqvi told IANS.

Naqvi also called the elections which took place in J&K earlier as jokes.

"Five per cent to 8 per cent votes were cast. We all know how the voting was done, and how the government was formed, and how it was run remotely," he claimed.

"But elections today are held with transparency in J&K. In the last 10 years, people in large numbers have used their voting rights, be it local body elections or state polls," the BJP leader added.

The 90-member J&K Assembly will go to the polls -- the first since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 -- in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1. The results will be declared on October 8.

The National Conference and Congress have entered into a pre-poll seat-sharing arrangement in J&K with the NC contesting 51 seats and the Congress fielding its candidates on 32 seats. While there will be a friendly contest on five seats, two seats have been reserved for the CPI(M) and Panthers Party.