BJP releases manifesto for DDC polls in Urdu

Srinagar: A day after polling was held in the first phase of maiden District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released its election manifesto, PTI reported.

Former MLC Vibhod Gupta released the manifesto in presence of senior party leaders from the Valley such as Sofi Yousuf and Darakhshan Abdrabi.

Interestingly, besides English, the manifesto was released in Urdu — a language which the BJP led Central government relegated to be just one of the official languages after it added Dogri, Hindi and Kashmiri to the list in September this year.

The manifesto claims that while the BJP has unified the country by abrogating Article 370 and Article 35A, the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) was working against the national interest for vote bank politics.

It further says that after reorganisation, J&K has been put on a track of development and peace. The party claimed that stone-pelting was ended and militancy was being dealt with an iron hand.

In the manifesto, the BJP also claimed credit for reserving 100 per cent of government jobs in the union territory for its residents only and framing a policy that will stimulate industrialisation.

The party said it has launched a war against corruption and land grabbing in the Union Territory. It also said basic amenities like electricity, water supply and road networks have been improved.

The BJP also claimed credit for doing away with SRO-202, a policy brought in by the PDP-BJP government in 2015 under which newly recruited government employees in J&K were paid a paltry remuneration for seven years before being paid full salary.