Congress’s second fiddle politics in J&K compromised regional aspirations: Rana

Jammu, Apr 2: Senior BJP leader Devender Singh Rana today said that the Congress’s second fiddle politics in J&K compromised regional aspirations.

“Congress played second fiddle politics in Jammu and Kashmir to remain glued to power and as a result the regional aspirations received a big jolt,” he said. Rana was addressing series of meetings in Jammu district.

“By aligning with the regional political players in turns to remain relevant in the J&K politics and to share the loaves of the power, the Congress kept looking to the other side for decades, even as the regions and sub-regions were discriminated against—be it development or share in the jobs,”he said.

The BJP leader stated that the Congress’s second fiddle politics in pursuit of power and personal agendas took precedence over the welfare of the people. “This phenomenon, characterised by opportunistic alliances and compromises, led to a situation for decades where the interests of the people were often side-lined in favour of narrow political gains. The practice of this sort of politics undermined the principles of democracy and good governance, as it prioritised short-term political objectives, no matter how much leverage the senior alliance partners enjoyed, over the long-term development and well-being of society,” he said. Rana stated that by perpetuating, the institutions were weakened due to political manoeuvring that eroded public trust in the democratic process and diminished the accountability of elected representatives.

He said Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed for decades how the decisions were made on political expediency rather than the merits of the issues, be it allocation of funds for development, share in jobs and availability of opportunities, which is why various regions and sub-regions nurtured the impression of being left out. This syndrome came to an end after the political developments of August 2019 with focus of governance remaining on Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas, he maintained.

Rana said the course correction undertaken during the past over four and half years, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji instilled a sense of belonging to the people living in both the regions and the sub-regions. “For the first time a paradigm shift is being witnessed in the process of governance with thrust on holistic development, time bound delivery of essential services, infrastructure development and safeguarding the interests of all the segments of the society,” he said.