Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Jammu on Saturday that there will be no talks with Pakistan until lasting peace is established in Jammu and Kashmir. He added that statehood will be restored at the appropriate time, after the Assembly elections.
Shah arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday for a two-day visit and released the party's manifesto, which includes 25 promises covering all sectors.
Sounding the BJP’s poll bugle, he criticised the National Conference (NC) for advocating talks with Pakistan in its manifesto.
“Let me make it clear that there can be no talks with Pakistan until peace becomes a permanent feature in J&K,” Shah said.
In a sharp critique of the NC-Congress alliance for claiming they will restore statehood to J&K, he said, "Perhaps Rahul Baba and Omar are unaware of my August 5, 2019 speech, where I clearly stated that statehood will be restored to J&K after the elections, at an appropriate time."
Aiming at Rahul and Omar, the Union Home Minister said he wonders how they plan to get back statehood. “Can they clarify? It's only the Narendra Modi-led government that has the authority to restore statehood to J&K," he said.
Challenging Rahul and Omar on the reservation for Gujjar-Bakerwal and Dalit communities, he said, “No power can touch this reservation.”
He said this is the first election where only one flag, one Constitution and one Prime Minister.
He said Prime Minister Modi stands as one for the entire nation. “From Kanyakumari to Kashmir, there is only one PM, and that is Narendra Modi,” he said.
He urged BJP workers to come with their families on voting day and finish voting by 11.30 am.
Shah asked BJP supporters to take a pledge to vote against the Abdullahs, Muftis, and Gandhis. He also raised the slogan: “Jahan huye balidan Mukherji, wo Kashmiri hamara hai” (Where Mukherji sacrificed his life, that Kashmir belongs to us).
He said that the NC-Congress alliance will never form the government, adding that they "can read the writing on the wall."
Targeting the PDP for supporting cross-LoC trade, the minister said the profits from such trade would go straight into the pockets of "terror mentors."
He accused the NC of deceiving people with the promise of autonomy, which, according to him, led to 40,000 deaths in J&K over the past three decades.
“Nobody can talk about autonomy now. Those days are gone,” he said.
He claimed that the NC, Congress, and PDP want to revive terrorism, separatism, and stone pelting in J&K.
He also alleged that the NC wants to change the name of Shankaracharya Hill to Takhtay Sulaiman. “We will not allow this, come what may,” he asserted. He further accused the NC of forcing the then Maharaja of J&K, Hari Singh, to flee Kashmir. “Later, what returned to J&K was the body of Hari Singh, who had acceded to India in 1947,” Shah said.