News Brief
'Whether The BJP Wants It Or Not...': Rahul Gandhi Vows Restoration Of Statehood For J&K In Election Rally
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Launching the Congress party’s campaign for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, promised during a rally in Ramban on Wednesday to reinstate statehood for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
In his speech, Rahul Gandhi referred to the Lieutenant-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir as a "raja" (king), and accused the Central government of snatching away the benefits meant for the J&K’s residents.
"For the first time in the history of India, statehood has been snatched away. Union Territory was first made a state... A state has been abolished and the rights of the people have been snatched away. First of all, the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir has to be returned because not only your state has been snatched away, your rights, your wealth, everything is being snatched away from you," Gandhi said.
"In 1947, we removed the kings and formed a democratic government, we gave the country a Constitution. Today, there is a king in Jammu and Kashmir, his name is LG...," he added.
“This is why our first step would be to restore statehood in Jammu and Kashmir. We wished for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir before the holding of assembly elections but the BJP was not willing and wanted the polls to be held first,” Rahul said.
Rahul was addressing a campaign rally in Sangaldan, which falls under the Banihal Assembly constituency in Ramban district.
The first phase of voting for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections is set for 18 September, with the results expected to be announced on 8 October.
For the J&K elections, Congress has formed an alliance with Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference.
Together, the two parties will contest a total of 83 seats, with the National Conference contesting 51 seats and Congress running in 32 constituencies.
