KATHUA: Addressing a series of BJP election meetings in Kathua and Hiranagar Assembly segments on Wednesday, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said that Kathua and Hiranagar are interwoven with the core ideology of BJP and Jan Sangh.
Recalling the events of May 1953, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is from here that Syama Prasad Mukherjee had given a call for complete integration of Jammu & Kashmir, which ignited the countrywide sentiment of nationalism and also became the motivation for a relentless crusade by thousands and thousands of Jan Sangh Karyakartas across the country.
Dr Jitendra Singh further recalled that this is also the district Kathua which gave India the first and the only National President of Bharatiya Jan Sangh or BJP from Jammu & Kashmir in the form of Prem Nath Dogra who took over as the National President in 1955.
He said, it is the uncompromising struggle and sacrifice of three generations of Karyakartas from here which kept the Party alive even though there was no government of BJP either at the Centre or in the State. He said, the story of the nationalistic struggle by the people of Kathua and Hiranagar is closely interlinked with the growth and journey of Bharatiya Jan Sangh and then the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Calling upon the people to vote for Bharatiya Janata Party not only to form the government but also to defeat the forces that are trying to undo the nationalistic struggle of three generations, Dr Jitendra Singh said, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought justice to all by abrogating Article 370 and 35A, National Conference and Congress are talking of reviving these provisions and depriving us of equal rights. He said, on the one hand, BJP’s “Sankalp Patra” speaks of “Maa Samman Nidhi” in the form of Rs.18000/- per year for the elderly woman of the household, on the other hand, National Conference supported by Congress talks of reviving 35A, thereby depriving the daughters of their right over their parental property.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Hiranagar had always spearheaded nationalist movement against discrimination and divisive rule, and now the time has come for this region to spearhead the movement against the disruptive forces, which are once again trying to raise their head.
Referring to unprecedented development works accomplished in the last 10 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Kathua has been known at the national level for some of the unprecedented projects like Shahpur-Kandi project for irrigation, North India’s first Industrial Biotech Park, Keerian Gandyal Bridge, Atal Setu, Centrally funded Government Medical college, Engineering College under Rastriya Uchhatar Siksha scheme, first-ever seed processing plant, dozens of new bridges, so on and so forth.
The Congress and National Conference governments, said Dr Jitendra Singh, worked against this region so ruthlessly that while they granted 4% reservation to the youth living along the LoC near PoJK from where they got their MLAs and MPs elected, they committed the inhuman sin of not granting the same reservation to the youth living on the other part of the border, namely the International Border, because it was not a part of their vote back. This anomaly was also undone by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
