Will put pressure on govt for restoring J-K statehood; want locals to run govt, not Delhi: Rahul

SURANKOTE: Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the Congress wants Jammu and Kashmir to be run by locals rather than from Delhi, and promised the party would put pressure on the Centre to restore J-K's statehood after the ongoing assembly polls.

Addressing a rally in the Surankote assembly segment of Poonch district, Gandhi also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming the INDIA bloc "broke his psychology" after the Lok Sabha elections. "He used to boast about a 56-inch chest but he is not the same person anymore".

The Lok Sabha MP accused the BJP and RSS of spreading "hatred and violence" in the country and dividing people on the lines of caste, creed, religion, region and language.

He said there are numerous examples of union territories being upgraded to states but never ever in the history of India a state was downgraded to a union territory.

"For the first time, a full-fledged state (J&K) was turned into a UT and your democratic rights were snatched," he told the rally, also attended by Congress ally and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.

"We will put pressure on them (government) and we will ensure that it (restoration of statehood) is done. If they don't do it we will," Gandhi said.

Seeking support for Congress-National Conference alliance candidates, he said his party wanted the restoration of statehood before the ongoing polls.

"We were of the view that statehood should be restored first followed by elections but they did not do it. We will put pressure on them and you will get back your statehood after elections," the former Congress president said.

Lashing out at the BJP-led government for "taking away" the rights of the people, he said earlier governments in J-K were run by locals and their decisions were meant for "your better future and in your interest".

"Today, outsiders are making decisions for you and your voice is not there in your government. Your government is run from Delhi, orders are coming from Delhi. We want your government to be run from J&K," he told the gathering.

He asked people to feel free to reach out to him to raise any issue in Parliament. "I am always available for you, just give me an order and I am there to help you."

The rally was held on the last day of campaigning for the second phase of elections on September 25 when 26 assembly constituencies spread across six districts will go to poll.

"Farooq sahib talked about hatred in the country. The BJP and RSS are spreading hatred in J-K and other states 24-hours a day. Wherever they go, they pit one brother against another. They have spread hatred in J-K, UP, Bihar, Manipur and across the nation. They only know this thing and nothing else. Their politics is based on hatred," Gandhi said.

Hatred cannot be conquered by hatred but love, Gandhi said.

"We are engaged in ideological fighting -- on one side there is hatred and on the other we want to open the 'shops of love'. We conducted Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir then followed it by another march from Manipur to Maharashtra with only one message that hatred is of no benefit to anyone. We opened the shops of love in the markets of hate in every state."

Targeting the prime minister, he said Modi used to boast about a 56-inch chest but "he is not the same person anymore".

"Today, the opposition does whatever it wants. They (the government) bring bills but we stand in front of them and they don't pass the law and instead bring another bill. The confidence they had is finished because we have broken his (Modi's) ideology which is visible on his face."

Referring to Modi's speech from Lok Sabha election campaign, he said "When pressure increased on him, he said his birth is not biological and has direct connection with God. The psychological pressure on him was visible and it was because of the INDIA alliance which finished him psychologically. We have not done it by hate, it is they who spread hate, we have done it by love."

He attacked Modi on the issue of unemployment, saying the prime minister waived of loan to the tune of Rs 16 lakh-crore of 25 big capitalists like Adani and Ambani, but finished small and medium businesses -- which were job creators in the country -- by implementing demonetisation and GST in a haste.

"The jobs are not there anywhere and the same is the situation in J&K. This government is not able to provide employment and it is a reality," he said.

He alleged that BJP and RSS are dividing people and pitting one sect against the other, one religion against the other, one region against the other and one language against the other.

"They also tried to divide Gujjars and Bakerwals here," Gandhi said, adding their divisive politics will fail as "we will move together with love. All are equal for us and we will not leave anyone behind".

He thanked the Congress and NC workers for standing together and extending support to each other to ensure the win of the joint candidates.