Union govt attempting to infringe on J-K political executive's powers: Cong as PM visits state

The Congress on Thursday, 19 September attacked the BJP as prime minister Narendra Modi headed to Jammu and Kashmir, and accused the NDA government of attempting to infringe on the political executive's powers in the union territory.

With the PM heading to Srinagar and Katra for rallies, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh posed three questions to him.

Why is the Union Government "attempting to infringe" on the J-K political executive's powers, he asked.

In July 2024, the Home Ministry amended the rules under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, giving powers to make decisions on crucial matters such as police and all-India services officers and granting sanctions for prosecution in various cases solely to the Union Government appointed Lieutenant Governor (LG), Ramesh pointed out.

"By curtailing the J&K political executive's policing and administrative powers, the Home Ministry has severely compromised the functioning of the future J&K Government," he said.

If the central government is sincere in giving complete statehood to the people of J&K, then why is it continuing to compromise the to-be state government's powers, he asked.

Ramesh further asked if the Union Government's actions are popular, why do the BJP and its proxies keep getting rejected by the people of J-K.

"When the BJP abrogated Article 370 to much fanfare in 2019, they repeatedly argued that the actions were popular among the people of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the non-biological PM refused to visit J&K after 2019, until the Lok Sabha polls in 2024," he said.

The BJP refused to contest the Lok Sabha elections in the Kashmir Valley, instead implicitly supporting candidates put up by its proxies, he claimed.

"However, all three proxies fared poorly, scoring a zero in the Lok Sabha and securing a lead only in one Vidhan Sabha segment. If the Union Government's actions are popular, why do the BJP and its proxies keep getting rejected by the people of J&K?" Ramesh said.

Why is the Union Government unable to attract investment in J-K, even in lithium mining, he asked.

"The non-biological PM's Government generated considerable excitement and rightfully so about the discovery of nearly six million tons of lithium in the Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District in Jammu and Kashmir. A year later, however, it has had to scrap two rounds of auctions for rights to mining in the area, after failing to generate enough interest from investors," he said.

Lithium is among the most sought-after minerals of the 21st century, and has a key role in the energy transition, Ramesh noted.

Globally, there has been an investor rush to secure reliable access to lithium mining rights, the Congress leader added.

"It is not financial disinterest that is precluding investors from interest in the lithium reserves in Reasi, it is the failing security situation in the region," he said.

Twelve soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir have been martyred in terrorist attacks in July 2024 alone, and Reasi itself saw a dastardly attack on a civilian bus on 9 June, 2024, Ramesh pointed out.

"The repeated message of the non-biological PM and his Ministers since August 5th, 2019, has been that its actions would stabilize the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and provide a fillip to investment in the region. Why then has his Government failed to do so?" he said.

Elections in Jammu and Kashmir are being held in three phases. Voting for 24 seats was held in the first phase on Wednesday. Next, polling for 26 seats would be held in the second phase on 25 September.

The voting for 40 seats in third phase will be held on 1 October while counting of votes will be held on 8 October.