JAMMU: Recalling the remarks made by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Mehbooba Mufti in 2017 that "there will be no one to shoulder the Indian flag in Kashmir" if Article 370 is scrapped, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that the Peoples Democratic Party president must understand that Tricolour is immortal and will always stay.
Addressing a public meeting in Jammu's Paloura, Amit Shah said," Now nobody has the guts to raise slogans for Pakistan.
Slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' can only be heard.
PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti had said that if Article 370 is removed, then nobody will be left to give a shoulder to the tricolour.
She needs to understand that this tricolour is immortal and will always stay. Article 370 was scrapped and the Tricolour still flies with pride and glory."
Amit Shah further said that today, youth in Jammu and Kashmir have laptops instead of stones in their hands.
"If someone has benefited the most in the 10 years of PM Modi's government, then it has been the brothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir. There was a time when stone pelting, blasts, and 'manhoos saya' of Article 370 loomed over Jammu and Kashmir. Today, it has been scrapped. The youth have laptops instead of stones in their hands," Amit Shah said.
"Under PM Modi, the BJP has given reservations to Gujjar, Pahari, Bakarwal, OBC, Dalits and women," he added.
Voting in Udhampur will be on April 19, in Jammu on April 26, in Anantnag-Rajouri on May 7, in Srinagar on May 13, and in Baramulla on May 20. Earlier, there were six seats for J-K, including Ladakh.
But, following the abrogation of Article 370 by the Parliament, Ladakh does not have a Lok Sabha constituency.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP won three seats, while the National Conference won the other three seats.
This is the first election after the Supreme Court ruling last year, which upheld the Parliament's decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two union territories.
The apex court also asked the Election Commission of India to hold the next assembly elections in J&K before September 30, 2024.