Kashmir: BJP candidate says Azadi has nothing to do with polls J&K Breaking News In a major shift from his party’s stand, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for Tral assembly segment Avtar Singh on Tuesday said ‘voting in elections has nothing to do with Azadi’. Speaking outside Loragam village in Tral—one of the bastions of pro-freedom sentiment – he said: “I convinced people to vote for development and for the end of unemployment which is one of the biggest problems we are facing right now.” Singh is confident of his win and said he broke the boycott trend in Tral, which has stayed away from ballot in past elections. “People want development and they are voting for it. I am giving tough fight to my rivals and I am sure that I will win by a good margin,” he claimed. Tral – where dozens of locals militants have died fighting the government forces in encounters– is a hotbed of insurgency with support to militants. Whenever a local or foreign militant dies in Tral in gunfight, thousands of people take to streets and stage pro-militant protests. Sometimes, people also snatch bodies of militants from forces for funeral and even fight over burial with each other. When asked whether the voting by people in assembly elections is defeat to separatists and militants’ as is being claimed by his ruling BJP in India, he said: “Azadi and voting is different. I can’t say it is their defeat or now people won’t demand Azadi.” In reply to another question, he claimed that it is due to unemployment that youth pick up guns in Tral or at other places. The BJP leader, who was stoned recently during a poll rally, said people of Tral are in favor of his party. “Whether Sikhs or Muslims, I think they are with BJP and want change,” he added.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 15:21:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015