PRIME Minister Narendra Modi freed Jammu and Kashmir from the clutches of Article 370, terrorism and separatism which is the biggest achievement of the BJP-led Government, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said. Thakur made this assertion as he joined BJP candidate Jugal Kishore, who submitted his nomination papers from the Jammu Lok Sabha seat after a massive road show here. He said Prime Minister Modi-led Government provided new wings of development to Jammu and Kashmir over the past 10 years besides showing that it cannot stay silent on Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks like the previous regime by conducting surgical strikes across the border.

 

“Someone travelling with me asked what Jammu and Kashmir has got under Modi? Jammu and Kashmir got freedom from Article 370, stone-pelting, terrorism and separatism while developmental activities got new wings,” the Information and Broadcasting minister said addressing a public gathering after the road show along Residency Road here. Talking to reporters later after his public address, Thakur said that Jammu and Kashmir recorded a decline of 75 per cent in terror attacks, 81 per cent in killing of civilians and 50 per cent drop in security personnel casualties under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership.

 

“It all became possible when there was a strong government at the Centre,” he said, asking people to vote for BJP candidates -- Kishore -- and Union Minister Jitendra Singh (Udhampur parliamentary constituency) -- for the third term. Amid chants of ‘Ab ki baar 400 paar’ and slogans in favour of Prime Minister Modi and the BJP, Thakur later accompanied Kishore to the office of the returning officer for the Jammu Lok Sabha seat where the latter filed his nomination papers.