Mehbooba govt neglected Jammu, Ladakh, says Shah

Justifying his party's decision to walk out of its alliance with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday blamed the erstwhile Mehbooba Mufti-led government of neglecting Jammu and Ladakh regions.

"We pulled out of the alliance because the Mehbooba Mufti-led government failed to ensure equitable development in Jammu and Ladakh, besides its failure to restore peace in Kashmir," he said while addressing a public rally in Jammu.

Shah, who flew to Jammu on Saturday to commemorate the death anniversary of party ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee, said the BJP had patiently waited for four years, but the Mehbooba-led government did not implement any of the programmes framed by the Centre.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned Rs 80,000 crore funds for various projects to push for the state's development but no financial help was extended to Jammu. The future of Jammu's children was being played with... The PDP stalled all progress for them," he claimed.

"Political parties regret when their government falls but the BJP is the only party which raised slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. It shows the BJP's patriotism," the saffron party chief claimed.

Shah also asked the Congress to apologise for the statements of its senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saifuddin Soz on Kashmir and dared it to take action against the two leaders.

"Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad made a statement which I cannot even repeat here. And immediately after it, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) supported that statement," he said.

The BJP chief asked the Congress to explain the reason behind "shared views" between LeT and one of its senior leaders.

He also slammed Congress leader Saifuddin Soz's statement that former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf was right in saying Kashmiris will prefer to be independent.

"The BJP will never let it happen, and Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and it can't be changed," Shah asserted.

Earlier in the day, Shah reviewed the party's preparations and strategy for the Lok Sabha election due next year.

A BJP leader said Shah chaired several meeting and reviewed organisational functioning, preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and its strategy.