Chief Minister and National Conference Working President Omar Abdullah Monday said that his party had succeeded in making development a part of the political narrative in J&K through sustained efforts to upgrade the State’s administrative and public infrastructure.While addressing road shows in Beerwah and during his on-foot door-to-door campaign in Bonhama, Daji Malik Gund, Banshuh Gund, Chaar Gaam, Utli Gaam, Soyhama, Sonapara, Hayatpora, Gaampora and Boiyet in Beerwah, Omar said that the State witnessed a huge transformation in the sectors of power, healthcare, education, roads, bridges, tourism, horticulture and agriculture during the last six years and that ‘National Conference would continue to lead the State towards new frontiers of prosperity.’
“We created a new network of administrative units in every nook and corner of the State to bring the Government to your doorsteps. The new network of new Tehsils, new Community Development Blocks and new Niabats will mean that your interface with the Government is smoother and more efficient. While the creation of the New Administrative Units was a historic initiative at liberalization and decentralization of power, the National Conference-led Government gave J&K one of the most stringent and strongest RTI Acts in the country to empower the common man with tools to eradicate corruption. We reconstituted the State Accountability Commission (SAC) and constituted the State Vigilance Commission (SVC) to wage a war against corruption in J&K after the previous PDP-Congress Government had plunged the State into the rot of corruption. Today we have succeeded in drastically reducing corruption in our State with your help and have come a long way from the disrepute of J&K being the most corrupt State in the country during the PDP tenure”, Omar said while campaigning in Beerwah.
“Our efforts to reduce violence and to make concrete efforts towards the goal of normalcy in the State are also in front of you. In the last six years there has been a seventy percent decline in violence in J&K. When we took over in 2008, the PDP-Congress Coalition Government had abandoned their responsibilities and had plunged the State into political uncertainty. We started from scratch and made efforts towards reconciliation, youth involvement and youth empowerment to give hope where PDP had sown hopelessness. Today, the heartwarming high-turnout in the first phase of elections is a testament to our efforts in areas of youth empowerment, reconciliation and rehabilitation”, the NC Working President added.Omar reiterated the commitment of National Conference to uphold the political inpiduality, dignity and status of Jammu and Kashmir and pledged to defeat all designs to fragment the State and to weaken its special status. “Contrary to their election rhetoric the fact is that all other political parties – be it the BJP, the Congress or the PDP – have united in their political opposition to what National Conference represents and the ideals that we uphold. On one hand you have BJP seeking abrogation of Article 370 and on the other hand you have PDP led by the same Mufti Sahab who was part of the State Cabinet from 1953 to 1975 that actually made erosions to Article 370 while Sher-e-Kashmir was in jail for defending Article 370 and our political aspirations. When it comes to Congress, one is reminded of the stiff public opposition mooted by Saif-ud-din Soz to the revocation of AFSPA as demanded by NC. Today they are pretending that they never harmed Article 370 and never created hurdles in NC’s efforts to bring relief and succor to the people of our State”, Omar said.
The NC Working President said that while this election is also a test of our strength as a people to defend our political status and dignity, it is also an opportunity to vote against corruption, suppression and exploitation – things which have become perennial features of PDP. “Mufti Sahab has empowered every retired corrupt bureaucrat, every SOG officer and every convicted corrupt politician in his party to create a team that would help him to exploit the State’s resources for the economic welfare of one political family.
A cursory glance at PDP’s list of candidates reveals the party’s intentions for Jammu and Kashmir and these elections afford all of you an opportunity to denounce anti-social elements, to reject corrupt faces and to disincentivize PDP’s age-old tool of political manipulation often used by Mufti Sahab during his long political career that has been full of injustices meted out to Jammu and Kashmir”, the Chief Minister added.Omar was accompanied by senior NC leader Aga Syed Ruhullah, NC leader Professor Abdul Majeed Mattoo and NC leader Aga Mohsin besides various party functionaries, youth activists and office bearers during his day-long road show in Beerwah.