Jammu, Sept 6 (UNI) Stating that Article 370 is history now, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that it will never come back to Jammu and Kashmir.
“Article 370 is now history and will never return to Jammu and Kashmir,” Shah said in his address at the BJP’s manifesto releasing function here for the forthcoming three-phase Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections starting from September 18.
The elections are scheduled to be held on September 18, 25, and October 1, and the counting will take place on October 8.
Shah said that he has gone through the manifesto of the National Conference wherein restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir is on the agenda.
“I want to make it clear that Article 370 will never return to the Union Territory as it is history now,” Shah said.
Urging the people of Jammu and Kashmir to vote for the BJP for a progressing and peaceful Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said that a period of ten years (2014 to 2024) will be written in golden letters in the history of Jammu and Kashmir and the nation.
Shah is on a two-day Jammu visit to kick-start the BJP’s poll campaign. On Saturday, he will also address a public rally on the city outskirts.
“Congress party which has alliance with the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir must clear its stand of NC’s agenda of restoring Article 370,” he said and stated that whatever be the outcome of the Assembly elections, the BJP will never allow to touch the reservation granted to the Gujjars, Bakerwals, and Paharis.
He further added that once the government is formed in Jammu and Kashmir, a white paper will be issued to fix the responsibility of those involved in the surfacing of terrorism asserting that the terrorism will be completely eradicated from Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah sought five years to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government by voting in favour of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Polls ensuring overall development.
Meanwhile, highlighting the key features of the manifesto, Shah said that it is based on 25 points that promise peaceful and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that the BJP has prioritized enhancing women’s financial security and self-reliance by implementing ‘Maa Samman Yojana’ to provide Rs 18,000 per year to senior women in every household in Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile assistance through the state government for Women SHGs on the issue of interest on bank loans providing two free LPG cylinders every year to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana beneficiaries, creation of 5 lakh employment opportunities through Pandit Prem Nath Dogra Rozgar Yojana (PPNDRY), Rs 3,000 yearly through DBT as travel allowance to college students under the ‘Pragati Shiksha Yojana’, a reimbursement of coaching fees to the tune of Rs 10,000 for two years reimbursing the travel costs to examination centres and one-time application fee, expediting the metro services in Jammu and Srinagar are among the key features of the manifesto released by the Union Home Minister.
Other key features of the Manifesto are 20 percent quota to Agniveers in Jammu and Kashmir government jobs and police recruitment following the Jammu-Kashmir Reservation Policy without affecting the general quota, implementation of reforms for government employees to ensure reservation in promotion for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes within government services to create a transfer policy for all the employees specifically for Scheduled Caste and other employees working in Kashmir Valley, building 10,000 km of new rural roads to ensure that no village is left behind.