BJP did nothing for refugees from PoJK, says Cong leader

Taking a dig over the statement of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding people of PoJK, the Congress has said the BJP was not concerned about the refugees who had come from the occupied areas in 1947.

Senior Congress leader and former Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Ravinder Sharma said the BJP government at the Centre was more concerned about the welfare of PoJK residents “than the 14 lakh displaced community from PoJK, for whom the party has done nothing concrete in years”.

Reacting to Rajnath Singh’s remarks that one day the residents of PoJK would voluntarily join India, Sharma said the BJP government did nothing to resolve the pending issues of PoJK displaced community settled in parts of Jammu and the rest of the country during its 10 years in power.

“Before the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2014, the BJP made tall promises to them, including reservation of eight Assembly seats, implementation of full financial package of Rs 30 lakh to each family besides other components. Instead of fulfilling the commitments to them, the UT administration has further snatched their rights over allotted land and power to sell which is very unfortunate,” Sharma said.

During his tours of Sunderbani and adjoining areas of Kalakote and Nowshera in Rajouri district, Sharma asked the party cadre to work for the success of coalition candidates to oust the BJP “which has caused sufferings to different sections of society”.