File photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
| Photo Credit: PTI
A day after the Congress and the National Conference (NC) announced an electoral alliance for the upcoming Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of risking the country’s security “in its greed for power”.
Posting a series of 10 questions on X, Mr. Shah demanded to know whether the Congress agreed with several of the promises made in the NC’s manifesto, including a separate flag for J&K, the restoration of Article 370, and a review of reservations for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and for other backward classes.
“The Congress has once again exposed its ulterior motives by allying with the Abdullah family’s National Conference,” Mr. Shah said.
Congress stance
“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 push Jammu and Kashmir back into an era of unrest and terrorism?” he asked.
He also asked for clarity from the Congress on whether it supports reinstating the relatives of those involved in terrorism and stone-pelting in government jobs, “thereby bringing back terrorism, extremism and the era of strikes”.
Anti-reservation promises
The alliance has also exposed the Congress’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 asked.
“Do the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi support the JKNC’s divisive politics of granting autonomy to Kashmir?” he added.
The Home Minister claimed that the Narendra Modi-led government had ended years of discrimination against Dalits, tribals, Pahadis and backward communities by granting them reservations after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A.
NC manifesto
The restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir’s Statehood, as well as the implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile J&K Assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference’s 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming election.
The Union Territory’s 90-member Assembly 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.
