BJP promises 500,000 jobs in its manifesto ahead of JK Assembly elections
The BJP has so far fielded 51 candidates for the 90 seats in the assembly. (PTI photo)
India’s ruling party has pledged to create 500,000 jobs and rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits in the restive Jammu and Kashmir region ahead of local elections later this month.
“I want to make it clear to the entire nation that Article 370 is now history, it will never come back and we will not let it come back,” Amit Shah, India’s home minister and a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said on Friday at the launch of the party’s manifesto.
Shah also promised that if elected, the Bharatiya Janata Party will fully rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits, a migrant group who fled the region during the height of the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s. The party also plans to distribute free laptops and stipends to students in the region, while also boosting tourism.
Modi’s rivals in the region have promised to restore the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its autonomous status.
Jammu and Kashmir is holding its first local elections since Modi’s government stripped the region of its autonomy in 2019 and downgraded its status from a state to a union territory. Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region about the size of the United Kingdom, is claimed in full by both Pakistan and India but divided and controlled by both countries.
The region has been plagued by separatist violence for decades, and fighting between militants and the Indian army has flared up in the run-up to the elections. The elections will be held in three phases, starting on September 18. The votes will be counted on October 8.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has so far fielded 51 candidates for the 90 Assembly seats up for grabs in the election. In the national polls that ended in June, the BJP lost its majority in parliament for the first time since it came to power a decade ago.
The BJP’s support lies mainly in Jammu, where most of the region’s Hindu population lives. In the Muslim-majority Kashmir, the Indian National Congress — the BJP’s main rival — has formed an alliance with the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference to gain support.
Rahul Gandhi, a top Congress party leader, this week vowed to restore the state of Jammu and Kashmir if voted to power. The National Congress, led by Omar Abdullah, has promised to restore the region’s special constitutional guarantees, which were revoked five years ago, and resume dialogue with Pakistan.
Diplomatic ties between the South Asian neighbors have been frozen since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s special rights. India has accused Pakistan of supporting Islamist terror groups that have carried out frequent attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
First publication: 07 Sep 2024 | 12:40 PM IST