New Delhi: Sounding the poll bugle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (February 20) urged the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.Addressing a public rally in Jammu’s Maulana Azad Stadium, Modi again targeted the “dynastic” and “corrupt” political parties for “playing with the dreams and aspirations” of J&K’s people, but he didn’t take any names this time around.Instead, his speech largely focused on the developmental projects completed in J&K under the BJP-led Union government and the new legislations that have provided political reservation and other benefits to the Union territory’s Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backwards Classes.Amid a downpour, Modi started his address in the Dogri language at the same venue where he had, as Gujarat chief minister, addressed the ‘Lalkar Rally’ in 2013 that marked the beginning of the BJP’s campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha election.Recalling the rally that took place on December 2, 2013, Modi said he had promised to set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Jammu.“I have delivered on my commitment with both IIM and IIT functional in Jammu,” he said.Modi said that there was a time when J&K was consumed by the politics of hartals and shutdowns.“Today we see the hustle and bustle of life in J&K. Those who ran J&K for decades didn’t care about your dreams and aspirations. They only cared for themselves and their families,” he said at the rally without taking any names.Modi said that the BJP government has restored the democratic rights of the downtrodden people of J&K.“We have fulfilled the decades-old wish of the Valmiki community by granting them Scheduled Caste status. Paharis, Gadda Brahmins, Kolis and other downtrodden communities have been included in the ST category. We have reserved seats for ST categories in the assembly and for OBCs in municipalities. We are taking everyone along,” he said.He said that J&K was becoming a centre of excellence in education.“Some time ago, only disappointing news of separatism, terrorism, bombing and kidnapping used to come out of J&K. There was a time when schools used to be burnt. Now, schools are decorated. J&K is on the path of peace, prosperity and development,” he said.Flanked by J&K’s lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh, Lok Sabha MP Jugal Kishore and Rajya Sabha MP and Gujjar leader Gulam Ali Khatana, Modi said there were only four medical colleges in J&K when the BJP was out of power before 2014.“Today there are 12 such colleges. There were only 500 MBBS seats, but today there are over 1,300 MBBS seats. Not a single seat was available in J&K for medical students to pursue postgraduate degrees. Today there are over 650 seats,” he said.Modi claimed that more than 450 nursing colleges have been opened in J&K over the last ten years.“Two AIIMS [All India Institute of Medical Sciences] are being built in Jammu and Kashmir, of which I will have the honour of inaugurating one,” he said, adding that it was a “dream come true” for the people of J&K.The PM said that infrastructure-development projects worth Rs 32,000 crore in J&K’s health, education, transportation and energy (among other) sectors were either being inaugurated or that their foundation stones were laid on Tuesday following his visit.Modi virtually flagged off the first electric train in Kashmir and the train service between Jammu’s Sangaldan station and Kashmir’s Baramulla station.The Jammu-Srinagar railway line is scheduled to get completed by March this year, as per Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with the Ramban-Reasi section still incomplete.The construction of the railway project, which will connect the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country, started in 1995 but has missed several deadlines due to the rugged terrain, which cuts through the heart of the Pir Panjal mountain range.“With the infrastructure development that is taking place in Jammu and Kashmir, the day is not far when people will sit in a train in Kashmir and embark on a journey across the country.“People will forget Switzerland,” Modi said, adding that the developmental works will benefit the people of J&K.Modi said that the world was witnessing the birth of a “new Jammu and Kashmir”.“The wall of [Article] 370, which impeded development in J&K, has been demolished by the BJP government. J&K is on the path of prosperity. The power of 370 is such that after the abrogation of Article 370, I have asked people of the country to give us 370 seats while the NDA [National Democratic Alliance] will cross 400 seats [in the upcoming elections],” he said.Targeting the Congress, Modi claimed that the party did not respect the Army.“The Congress government kept lying to the soldiers for 40 years that it would bring the ‘One Rank, One Pension’ (OROP) scheme, but it was the BJP which fulfilled the promise. Due to the OROP scheme, former soldiers of Jammu alone have received over Rs 1,600 crore,” he said.
