BJP's dangerous alliance with separatists in J&K: Congress

Jammu, Sep 26: Senior Congress leader, Rajya Sabha MP, and AICC member Rajiv Shukla on Thursday cautioned the people against the “dangerous game plan of the BJP for encouraging anti-national and separatist leaders for petty political gains.”

“BJP is playing with the fire in Jammu and Kashmir by hobnobbing with separatists and anti-national elements to defeat the Congress and the National Conference in the elections,” he said while addressing a press conference here.

“The upcoming elections in Jammu and Kashmir are of utmost importance, with repercussions that will be felt across the entire country. The people of J&K have an opportunity to send a strong and positive message through these elections,” the Congress leader said.

He alleged that the BJP and the Central government are engaged in a dangerous nexus with separatist elements in the region. “Their actions appear to be aimed at demoralizing nationalist forces like the National Conference (NC) and the Congress. By supporting separatists to defeat the NC and Congress, the BJP is playing with fire in J&K. We caution the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the Centre's true agenda is to weaken nationalist parties by aligning with anti-national elements,” Shukla said.

“Engaging in political rivalry does not mean one should stoop to supporting separatists or other divisive forces. This betrayal exposes the BJP’s double standards. While they claim to stand for national unity, their actions here prove otherwise,”he said. Lambasting BJP for not granting statehood to J&K, the MP said, “Unfortunately, the promise of restoring statehood has been betrayed by the current government. The historic state of Jammu and Kashmir deserves statehood without further delay, and this continued denial is an injustice to its people.”