Uttarakhand CM slams Congress for poll alliance with NC in J&K polls

New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS) After the Congress and National Conference (NC) announced an alliance ahead of the Assembly elections, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday criticised Congress for the alliance with NC, saying that they playing with the “unity” of the country.

“A new alliance has been formed between Congress and NC ahead of the Assembly elections in J&K. The Congress did this alliance only for political gains. Both the parties are playing with the unity and peace of the country,” Uttarakhand Chief Minister said while addressing a press conference at the media centre in Dehradun Secretariat.

He said that the entire country is already aware of the sacrifices made by Uttarakhand’s men, as part of the Indian Army, to save Kashmir.

“People of India, at any cost, don’t want the peace and law and order in Kashmir to get disturbed. Kashmir is an integral part of India. The death and destruction there has stopped after a long period,” the Chief Minister said.

He alleged that NC “pushed back” the development of the J&K for three decades while promoting "terrorism" and "jihad".

He added that under the supervision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the special status of J&K was abrogated.

“Peace and prosperity stepped in Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370. We have also seen how the tourism sector grew while protests and stone pelting have gone down. Does Congress, by allying with NC, want to bring back the unrest to J&K,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the BJP is not afraid of losing the elections in J&K. “The BJP has never prioritised politics over nationalism. J&K is above politics, nation comes first above anything else,” the Chief Minister said.

The Chief Minister asked whether the Congress supports NC’s promise to reinstate a separate flag in J&K again and also questioned whether Rahul Gandhi and the Congress support the decision of NC to bring back Article 370 and Article 35A, which would allegedly push J&K “back into an era of unrest and terrorism”.

He also asked if Congress supports promoting separatism by engaging in dialogue with Pakistan instead of focusing on the youth of Kashmir.

“Union government has undertaken many unprecedented efforts for the development of Jammu and Kashmir which has led to its rapid progress,” the Chief Minister said.

Congress and NC announced a pre-polls alliance in J&K ahead of the Assembly elections which the BJP has strongly criticised.