Jammu, Jul 29 (KNS): National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana on Sunday asserted that Dogra pride was honour of the people of Jammu region and asked the BJP not to play politics on it.
“When in power, the BJP and its ministers never spoke about Dogra pride and once out they are crying hoarse in a vein bid of hoodwinking public opinion”, Rana said while addressing the workers of erstwhile Kissan Mazdoor Party, which under the leadership of Vijay Pandey had recently merged into National Conference in presence of Dr Farooq Abdullah.
Rana cautioned against marketing of Duggar pride for retrieving doomed electoral prospect of the rejected and discredited BJP, saying the people of Jammu region were sagacious enough to see through the grand conspiracy hatched in Delhi to exploit Dogra sentiments.
The Provincial President said the Dogra pride was close to every individual of the Jammu region, irrespective of caste and religion and they have never shirked in offering any sacrifice for upholding their culture and heritage. “Those using the Dogra pride as a commodity to garner vote and support during elections were worse enemies of Dogriyat”, he said and warned that any attempt of tarnishing the rich Dogra image will be fought with full might. He said the pride of Dogras is so rich and strong that it does not saviours like the BJP, which for retaining power can compromise with anything and everything.
Rana posed several direct questions to self-styled proponents of the Dogra cause as to what they had done for the Duggardesh during their various stints in the government. He said the 3-years of PDP-BJP rule will go in the annals of the history as most nightmarish misrule, which brought miseries to the State in general and the Jammu region in particular. He said the BJP is turning speechless when asked by the people to spell out one single achievement they registered for the benefit of the Jammu region.
Rana referred to reports about Delhi’s concern over erosion of the BJP in Jammu in the wake of bartering its much trumpeted agenda of Hindutava and the so-called core issues of seven decades to enjoy few loaves of power, and said that dejected over complete indifference of the people a conspiracy has been hatched to generate passions over Dogra pride. He said the BJP leaders were struggling but shying away to face the people after their betrayal with the Jammu cause and sensing reprisals and backlash, the Nagpur think-tank has revised their strategy by bringing Dogra angle to fore as the nation is entering into the era of general elections to Lok Sabha.
He asked the people to remain vigilant against attempts of dividing them on religious and ethnic basis.
“What could be the irony of the BJP than its national President Amit Shah publicly admitting in the historic Parade Chowk failure of the party run government in the State”, he said and referred to his apologies to the people of Jammu for failing them on every front, betraying them and compromising with their self-esteem. This, he said, is eye opener for those who trusted the hollow slogans of the BJP in 2014 and mandated it massively in both Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections. The scenario is altogether different now that has sounded alarm bells in the BJP rank and file, resulting in stitching of conspiracies, he said, asserting that they will fail in all their misadventures before the firm resolve of the people of Jammu. He asked the BJP to see writing on the wall and shun negativity for the larger interests of the Dogras and the Jammu region.
The day-long convention held at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan was addressed by Rattan Lal Gupta State Secretary, Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Provincial Secretary, S. T.S Wazir Ex- MLC, Vijay Laxami Dutta, Provincial Vice President, Satwant Kour Dogra Provincial President Women Wing, Abdul Gani Teli Co- Chairman OBC Cell, Mr Vijay Pandey Provincial Secretary OBC Cell, Ifran Ahmed, Sadiq Ahmed, Parvez , Sain Dass.
Co-Chairperson of the OBC Cell Abdul Gani Teli highlighted the problems confronted to the weaker sections and sought reconstitution of the Advisory Board for OBCs and streamlining reservation certificates to the members of these communities.
During the convention Ghulam Hassan, Rohit (Adv), Raj Kumar, Daman Kumar, Ravi Kumar, Lalit Kumar, Nathu Ram, Kala Ram, Dalut Ram, Jagdish Raj and others joined the National Conference.
Devender Singh Rana and other senior leaders welcomed the new entrants into the party fold and hoped that with their joining National Conference will be further strengthened at the grass roots level.
Prominent among those present in the convention included Haji Mohd Hussain Ex- MLC, Ch Haroon, Anil Dhar , Dilshad Malik, Reeta Gupta, Dharamveer Singh Jamwal, Vijay Lochan , Pardeep Bali, Sanjay Gupta, Ashok Singh Manhas, Ch. Akhter, Jagdish Raj Sodhi, Gurcharan Singh, Darshan Singh, Subash Chander, Kapura Ram, Kuldeep Raj, Manahor Lal, Prem Sagar Bittu, Subash Chander Mehra, Asha Mehra, Seema, Naseem Akhter, Akhter , Sunil Mehra, Reyaz Ahmed Hakala and others. (KNS)