‘Congress-NC coalition to wrest power in J&K’

Sangaldan (Ramban), Sep 04: Former Congress president and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi Wednesday, while reiterating the INDIA bloc’s commitment to the restoration of statehood to J&K, announced that they would “remove Modi government and BJP very soon.”

“We have shattered the Prime Minister psychologically. We have shattered his confidence. Very soon, we will remove PM Modi and BJP from the government,” he said.

He was addressing a public gathering, while kick-starting Congress election campaign for the upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir from the Sangaldan area of Banihal assembly segment in the Jammu region.

Rahul stated that the Congress-National Conference coalition government would come to power in J&K after the Assembly polls. “The party's first step, after forming the government, will be to restore Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Next we will fill all the government vacancies and will extend the recruitment age to 40 years. We will regularize the daily wage workers and enhance their wages,” he said.

Criticising the downgrading of J&K State to a Union Territory, he said, “We’ve never seen a state being disempowered this way. Earlier, states were divided to create another state. We have examples, like Telangana, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh but the BJP government downgraded Jammu and Kashmir by making it a Union Territory.”

Targetting BJP, he said that the entire government was being run for two billionaires. “If you see the status of the state which has been taken away from you, the aim was only to help the two billionaires Adani and Ambani,” he said.

He said, “Not only has your state been abolished but the rights of people have also been snatched away. It (statehood) has to be returned because your rights, your wealth - everything has been snatched away from you, the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Rahul said, “In 1947, we removed the kings and formed a democratic government; we gave the country a Constitution. Nowadays, there is a king in Jammu and Kashmir, his name is LG.”

“BJP and RSS people are spreading hatred and violence in the country and are working to divide the country, but the Congress will unite it. We desire brotherhood in the country,” he said.

Sangaldan area of Banihal constituency will go to polls in the first phase of the assembly elections on September 18.