Jammu will decide formation of next govt in Jammu & Kashmir: Minister Amit Shah

The Jammu region would decide the formation of a government in the assembly poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday while appealing to the people to ensure the victory of the BJP's candidates in the elections.

Polling in Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled on September 18, 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be held on October 8.

Addressing a workers' rally at Ploura in Jammu north assembly segment, Shah introduced the BJP's candidates from 11 seats of Jammu districts that are going to polls in the last phase and said, "We have to not only defeat their opponents but also ensure that they lose their security deposits." He said the BJP will fight the elections with its might and nobody should have any doubt about its victory.

"The time when someone else was deciding whose government will be formed (in J&K) has gone. Now Jammu will decide the formation of government," Shah said at the rally before concluding his two-day election campaign in the Union Territory.

"PM Modi restored your honour by ending discrimination and injustice faced by you… Ensure a government which will work for you so that you do not go to Srinagar with a begging bowl. It is possible by strengthening Modi's hand," the senior BJP leader said.

He asked the BJP workers at the rally to "take a pledge to ensure the victory of party candidates before leaving this place".

Recounting the Modi government's works, Shah said it has spent over Rs 32,000 crore for the development of the Jammu region alone in the past 10 years.

Power projects worth over Rs 25,200 crore to generate 3,000 MW electricity and make Jammu and Kashmir surplus in electricity and boost development are underway, he informed the rally.

Shah said it was the BJP that fulfilled the aspirations and long-pending demands of the people of the Jammu region and mentioned the announcement of a holiday on the birth anniversary of the last Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh to bolster his claim.

"Should those who insulted the maharaja and forced him into exile win?" he posed while alleging that the NC-Congress alliance has a "divisive" agenda. "The NC-Congress wants to bring back the old system which means injustice, discrimination and corruption." "Do you agree with changing the name of Shankaracharya Hill (in Srinagar) to 'Takht-e-Suleiman'? This is on their agenda," he asked the gathering.

"The past when you had to fight for your rights and development through agitations has gone. You have seen the months-long Amarnath agitation (of 2008). The system was changed by the Modi government and all your demands were met without any agitation or pleading," Shah said.

The home minister also referred to the annual Amarnath Yatra and said over 5.12 lakh pilgrims from across the country offered their prayers at the shrine this year without any fear.

He credited the Modi dispensation for it and said the government has done a lot of work in the past 10 years besides restoring democracy at the grassroots level by holding local body elections.

At the rally, Shah talked about the 25 guarantees in the BJP manifesto and asked each party worker to ensure voting by their families along with three other families in favour of BJP candidates before 11 am on the polling days.