Democracy established on ground level in J&K after Article 370 abrogation: PM Modi

Srinagar, Aug 07: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that democracy has been established in Jammu and Kashmir at the “ground level” since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

Hitting out at the Congress party, PM Modi said that the principal opposition party did not take any substantial step to empower Panchayati Raj institutions in India for decades, reported Hindustan Times.

Modi made the remarks while addressing the two-day regional Panchayati Raj council Surajkund Haryana.

“During the Congress’s regime, there were no concrete efforts made to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions. Maximum work was limited to figures and documents. Jammu and Kashmir is the biggest example. In the year 2019, after Article 370 was abrogated, it was for the first time that elections were held there from the gram panchayat (village) level to the zila (district) level, in which, over 33,000 local public representatives have been elected,” Modi said in a virtual address.