J&K polls: Cong allying with divisive forces knowing it won’t win in united country, says Fadnavis

Panaji, Aug 24 (PTI) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the Congress was tying up with divisive forces for the Jammu-Kashmir assembly polls after realising it would not win elections in a united country.

He was addressing party workers after laying the foundation stone of the BJP headquarters in Goa.

Polls to the 90-member J-K assembly will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1, while results will be announced on October 4.

NC chief Farooq Abdullah has announced a pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going to the polls for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

“Those who are opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi have now changed their political strategy. During Lok Sabha elections, the face of the opposition was Rahul Gandhi but actually the election was fought by anarchist forces, who created false and negative narratives,” Fadnavis claimed.

“Those forces (anarchist) are still around the Congress party. Now, our fight should be for the sake of our country and for safeguarding our democracy,” he added.

Fadnavis said the BJP was affected by negativity created by these forces during the Lok Sabha polls, in which the party lost its majority in Parliament and ended up with 240 seats, because it was not alert “but now we need to be alert”.

The Congress has forged an alliance with the National Conference, which talks about bringing back Article 370 in J-K and the erstwhile state’s flag, he said.

“The Congress is with these divisive forces. They know they will not be win elections if the country remains united,” he commented.

He also said the Congress was now saying there should not be reservations for SC, ST and OBC segments.

Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were last held in November 2014.

On August 5, 2019, the BJP-led Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and reorganised the erstwhile state into two Union territories — Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.