“If bullets are fired from across the LoC, we will respond with bullets, not with ‘boli’ (talks).” He added that he had come to Mendhar to rally support for BJP candidate Murtaza Khan. Shah reflected on his own connection to the region, saying, “I live in Gujarat, and I could never have imagined addressing people in Mendhar, just 2 kilometers from the LoC. Our Gujjar, Bakarwal, and Pahari brothers have always stood as soldiers of the country during every conflict with Pakistan since 1947.
Today, from the mountains of Mendhar, I want to tell you that the entire nation is proud of you. I urge you to join hands with PM Narendra Modi to protect the country.” “This election will end the monopoly of three families: the Abdullahs, Muftis, and Gandhis. They have stifled democracy in J&K. If PM Modi hadn’t come to power in 2014, there would be no Panchayat, BDC, or DDC elections here,” he continued.
“It is thanks to Narendra Modi and Murtaza Bhai that today 30,000 youth from this region are working across the country,” Shah emphasized. “During the tenure of Farooq Abdullah and the Mufti family, 40,000 innocent people lost their lives. PM Modi has made the decisive choice to end terrorism. Instead of stones, we’ve placed laptops in the hands of our youth. Omar Abdullah now threatens that terrorism will return, but I want to assure him that regardless of his past affiliations, our government remains strong, and as long as PM Modi is in power, we will never allow terrorism to regain a foothold in the Valley.”
“I appeal to you to end the monopoly of these three families. Did Farooq Abdullah protect you in the 1990s? He instead went to London for a summer holiday.
“We have increased facilities for the common man. We gave Rs 5 lakh free healthcare, did they do it in 70 years? “Modi will give you Rs 10 lakh healthcare insurance in the future. Modiji has proposed in the Cabinet recently that instead of making macadamised roads under the PMGSY for villages with a population of 500, we should have a macadamised road for every village with a population of 50 people.
“This will benefit mountainous areas. OBCs, Gujjars, Bakarwals and also Paharis brothers. “Farooq’s party opposed reservation to Paharis by telling Gujjars and Bakarwals that Paharis would cut into their reservation quota. We proved them wrong.
“Before reservations, our Gujjar/Bakarwal brothers would look for a peon’s job for their children. With reservations, your children can now become Collectors and District SPs. They can get admission in medical and engineering colleges on reservation.
“This right was guaranteed to you by the Constitution of India. Farooq Abdullah and his friends had not passed on this right to you. They now say that they will review quota. Don’t worry, even if they hang themselves upside down, nobody can take away your reservation,” he stated.
“I promise to fulfil your demand for the winter camp office of the Collector in Mendhar and this will happen before this winter sets in. Mendhar will have schools up to higher secondary level and your children will get laptops and tablets so that they can get education online.
“We will extend your quota a step further by giving reservation in promotions. Some NC leader has said that the NC flag is red because there is terrorism in J&K. Do they want to give guns in the hands of our youth?
“We will give our youth from this area guns by recruiting them into the police, Army and the CRPF. “We will hold special recruitment camps to recruit youth from border areas into the Army and other Defence forces of the country,” he asserted.
HM Shah continued, “We made a conference hall, a Dak Bungalow, brought solar street lights and stopped cross-border shelling in Mendhar. “If you bring us to power in J&K, we will give Rs 18,000 annually to the eldest lady of each family, we will give two LPG cylinders free. Farmers will get instead of the present Rs 6000 in their account, Rs 10,000. We will reduce the electric power tariff by half and give 500 units of power free.
“Jammu will have a metro, Tawi River front and Poonch and Rajouri will have a tourist destination as good as Pahalgam in the Valley.” He added, “We will give 20 per cent quote in the Agniveer scheme. Your children can become the Chief Secretary and the DGP of J&K and those days are not very far.”
“I appeal to you to elect Murtaza Khan and thereby give Modiji an opportunity to bring progress and prosperity to Mendhar”, HM Shah ended his speech with these words. He will address another four BJP campaign rallies on Saturday in Rajouri, Surankote, Thanamandi and Akhnoor.
