Rahul Gandhi Vows to Fight for Jammu & Kashmir Statehood in Parliament and Streets

Rahul Gandhi Parliament speech

Rahul Gandhi Vows to Fight: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has promised to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) statehood, saying the BJP took it away to rule through the LG and external forces.

Addressing a rally in Jammu, Gandhi said the Congress will fight for statehood in Parliament and on streets.

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"The BJP wants to manage the region with the LG and outsiders, compromising the prosperity of the local population. As long as the lieutenant governor is in place, benefits will continue to flow to outsiders at the expense of J&K residents," he stated.

This rally comes at the time of second phase of J&K’s first assembly elections since 2014, after the region was bifurcated into two UTs after Article 370 was scrapped in August 2019.

Gandhi said these elections are about people’s rights, and statehood would mean better protection to local industries and banking facilities to common citizens.

He recalled the historical context, saying while Union territories can be elevated to statehood, it’s unprecedented for a state to be downgraded to a UT, which he called a “big injustice” to the people of J&K.

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Expressing his expectations for the election process, Gandhi remarked, "We believed that statehood would be restored prior to the elections; that would have been the proper course of action. Instead, they chose to hold elections first."

Gandhi will use full might of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to force the BJP to restore statehood. "If the BJP fails to take action for any reason, the first task of the INDIA government will be to grant statehood, as it is your right," he asserted.

Also Gandhi accused the BJP government of favouring two big industrialists, saying it works only for Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. He said the government’s policies including GST and demonetization were designed to benefit these billionaires at the cost of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.

"The government has waived debts for 25 billionaires, significantly impacting the poorer segments of society. Decisions like demonetization and GST have devastated the MSME sector, which is crucial for job creation," he said.

Gandhi called Jammu a business hub, a bridge between Kashmir and rest of India.

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