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Tribune News Service
Jammu, December 15
Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Saifuddin Soz today predicted that the Congress would emerge as the single largest party. He said the BJP would not get even a single seat from the Valley and the mountainous Ladakh region.
He said on the basis of his personal knowledge, he could say that the Congress had performed well in Ladakh and all four seats were expected to come to the Congress.
“Also, in the Kashmir valley, the Congress has performed well and the BJP will not bag a single seat in the Ladakh and Kashmir regions,” Soz said while addressing public meetings at the Nagrota, Gandhi Nagar, Suchetgarh and Jammu East Assembly constituencies today.
He was accompanied by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Haryana Chief Minister.
Soz emphasised the fact that the Congress would emerge as a strong secular force in the state Legislative Assembly and would have the opportunity to be a determining factor in shaping a secular coalition in the state.
He appealed to the people to vote for the Congress and support it so that roots of secularism and economic stability were strengthened and the nefarious designs of the BJP of scraping Article 370 were thwarted.
He said the BJP used to demand the abrogation of Article 370 but during the present elections, for the sake of vote politics, they had put the issue on back burner.
Soz described the statement of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Article 370 as misleading and election-oriented. “Since the elections in the Kashmir valley are over now, the BJP has once again started its rhetoric on the abrogation of Article 370. By doing so, the BJP is trying to mislead the people of the Jammu region,” he said.
Hooda, whom Soz described as the architect of modern Haryana, while addressing the gathering hit out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying they were misleading people even through their promises of, “Achey Din”, which were yet to come true.
“After six months, the BJP government at the Centre stands exposed on all major aspects of governance, including price rise,” Hooda said, adding Prime Minister Modi was misleading the people by false oratory.
He said the Congress ideology was to unite the people, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. “The Congress is committed to development of Jammu and Kashmir and wants to preserve the rich social, traditional and cultural heritage of the peace-loving people in its unique form,” the former Haryana CM said.
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