Felicitating BJP for the party’s landslide victory in UP and Uttarakhand polls and impressive performance in Manipur and Goa, Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti Saturday said it is a clear and decisive mandate for the governance, developmental and economic agenda of Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi.“I congratulate Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi and his party on this resounding victory which is an endorsement of his Government’s governance, developmental and economic agenda,” Ms Mehbooba said in a statement.She said the people have given a decisive mandate to the BJP for a strong and stable government to usher the country into a new era of economic development and prosperity. “The Prime Minister and his party have got the fresh political and electoral legitimacy to take on the challenges confronting the country and the region on economic and political fronts,” Ms Mehbooba said and expressed the hope that with the fresh public approval of his policies and programmes, the Prime Minister would give a new impetus to his intensive developmental agenda and inclusive political agenda.
Reiterating that the resolution of the momentous problems confronting Jammu and Kashmir should be brought to the centre-stage with fresh political resolve, Ms Mehbooba called for making renewed efforts in reaching out to the people of J&K to end the vicious cycle of death and destruction in the State and ensure a prosperous future for its enterprising young generation like their counterparts in other states of the country. “I hope the Central government, under the leadership of Mr Modi, will make a renewed effort to reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, address the causes of alienation and trust deficit and work towards finding a lasting solution to the problems plaguing the State,” she said and added that the time has come for engaging all the stakeholders in a meaningful dialogue to address the issues in a peaceful and cordial manner.“I am sure the country’s political leadership will pick up the threads and carry forward the reconciliation and resolution process started by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003 which had helped in substantively transforming the ground situation,” she said and emphasized the need for taking tangible steps to win the hearts and minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir especially the youth.
“Let us rise to meet the defining challenges of our time confronting Jammu and Kashmir and ensure a dignified and peaceful resolution of the problems confronting the State so that our future generations have not to suffer the miseries of violence and bloodshed,” she said and added that violence is only doing incalculable damage to the image of State as also to its vital economic and social interests.Ms Mehbooba said despite ideological and political divergencies, PDP joined hands with BJP to provide a broad-based political platform to the people in all the regions and sub-regions of the State. “With the objective of ensuring larger political reconciliation in the State, the intricate issues, which have all along been used for political exploitation and electoral politics, have been taken care of in our ‘Agenda of Alliance’,” she said and added that the wide-ranging initiatives enumerated in the ‘Agenda of Alliance’ on political, economic and administrative fronts will be implemented for the larger good of the State and its people.Terming the power of vote as the game-changer in a democratic setup, Ms Mehbooba said a new course for Jammu and Kashmir can be decided only by the people by exercising their right to franchise effectively.