Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Slams Congress for Tie-Up With National Conference Party Ahead of Polls, Says ‘INC Risking India’s Unity for Greed of Power’

New Delhi, August 23: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday slammed the Congress for its alliance with the National Conference for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, accusing the party of repeatedly risking the country's unity and security in its greed for power. The Congress has once again "exposed its ulterior motives by allying with the Abdullah family's National Conference," the BJP leader said on X and posted 10 questions for the national party and its leader Rahul Gandhi, while listing several of the manifesto promises of the regional party.

Shah asked, "Does the Congress support the National Conference's promise of a separate flag for Jammu and Kashmir? Do Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party support the JKNC's decision to restore Article 370 and 35A, and thereby pushing Jammu and Kashmir back into an era of unrest and terrorism?". The full name of Farooq Abdullah-led party is Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC). Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: National Conference and Congress Announce Alliance, Promise Statehood Restoration.

The Union home minister asked whether the Congress supports promoting separatism again by engaging in dialogue with Pakistan instead of Kashmir's youth and the National Conference's decision to start LoC trade with Pakistan, thereby nurturing terrorism and its ecosystem across the border. His other queries fired to the Congress and Gandhi included whether the party supports reinstating relatives of those involved in terrorism and stone-pelting into government jobs, "thereby bringing back terrorism, extremism and the era of strikes".

The alliance has exposed the Congress party's anti-reservation stance, he said. "Does Congress support the JKNC's promise to end reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakarwals and Pahadi communities, thereby inflicting injustice upon them? Does the Congress want 'Shankaracharya Hill' to be known as 'Takht-e-Suleiman', and 'Hari Hill' as 'Koh-e-Maran'," he sought to know. Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: National Conference Leader Omar Abdullah Says ‘Consensus Reached on Most of Seats’ in Alliance With Congress.

Shah asked whether the Congress supports the politics of pushing Jammu and Kashmir's economy back into corruption and handing it over to selected Pakistan-supported families, and whether it endorses the National Conference's politics of "discrimination" between Jammu and the Valley. "Do the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi support the JKNC's divisive politics of granting autonomy to Kashmir?" he asked.

The former BJP president claimed that the Modi government ended years of discrimination against Dalits, tribes, Pahadis and backward communities by granting them reservations after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A. "Does Rahul Gandhi support the JKNC manifesto, which calls for abolishing reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakerwals and Pahadis? After allying with the National Conference, he should now clarify the Congress Party's stand on reservation policy," he said.

Restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir's statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference's 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming polls. The 90-member assembly of the Union Territory is going to the polls in three phases on September 18 and 25 and October 1. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 4.

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