Ladakh (representative image)

The Congress has demanded that elections in Jammu and Kashmir be conducted according to the deadline set by the Supreme Court. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the BJP’s policies, accusing them of failing to respect both “Kashmiriyat” and “Jamhuriyat”.

Last December, the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission of India to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30.

“We demand that elections are held according to the Supreme Court set deadline so that people can elect their own representatives, secure Constitutional rights and put a full stop to this mechanism of being ‘ruled by bureaucracy’,” Kharge said on Monday.

Kharge’s remarks come on the fifth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

“The Modi government had claimed that this move would help to fully integrate Jammu and Kashmir, boost economic development of the region and prevent terrorism and separatism. However, the reality is starkly different,” Kharge said in a long post on X.

Since 2019, there have been 683 fatal terror attacks, resulting in the martyrdom of 258 security personnel and the loss of 170 civilian lives, the Congress chief said.

Notably, 25 terror attacks have occurred in the Jammu region since PM Narendra Modi’s third oath, claiming the lives of 15 soldiers and injuring 27, he said.

Kharge also claimed that targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits have become a norm in the past few years. He claimed that 65% of government department posts in Jammu and Kashmir remain vacant since 2019.

The unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 10%, with an alarming 18.3% youth unemployment rate, he said.

Despite the introduction of the New Industrial Policy in 2021, a mere 3% of investments have materialised on the ground, Kharge said.

He further claimed that 40% of projects under the PM’s Development Package, 2015, remain pending.

“Jammu and Kashmir’s net state domestic product (NSDP) growth rate has declined from 13.28% (April 2015-March 2019) to 8.73% post-2019,” he said.

The people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh yearn for normalcy, a sentiment they conveyed to Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Kharge said.

The Indian National Congress stands firmly with the people of these regions, which are an integral part of India, he added.

The assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will mark the first since the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganisation of the region into two Union Territories in 2019.