Apni Party today organised an impressive public meeting in Khour and discussed various issues being faced by the people of the border villages as a part of election campaign in support of contesting candidate of the Party for District Development Council (DDC) Madan Lal Pargwalia.
Pargwalia has been given Party mandate to contest DDC polls from Khour and he is considered as one of the strongest contesting candidates in the constituency.
In a statement to the press, large numbers of people also participated in the meeting at Khour, Akhnoor in Jammu District and they highlighted developmental and border issues.
During the meeting, the people appraised the Former Minister and Provincial President, Manjit Singh that they are suffering from the underdevelopment and they want a change in the leadership of their area.
“We are being represented by the people who create differences on the basis of casteism, rich and poor. Majority of the people in Khour are farmers, ex-servicemen and some are doing government services. However, their main dependence is upon the agricultural land,” the people informed Manjit Singh during the meeting.
They said that “the local leadership does not listen to them and their works are hardly taken up.”
After listening to their issues patiently, the Former Minister and Apni Party, provincial President, Manjit Singh said that the previous Govts have failed to come up to their promises and therefore, they mislead the people.
“Such political parties which have exploited the people for vote bank politics for decades have joined hands under Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD),” said Manjit Singh.
On the same pattern, he said, the BJP is trying to garner support from the people by engaging the Union Ministers and National Leaders in local level District Development Council (DDC) elections.
He said that the local leadership of J&K BJP is not able to face the people since they know that they have been exposed completely.
“They are again trying to befool people with false slogans and no one is talking about the protection of the land on which the majority of the people in Khour are dependent. It is not only the issue of Khour, but the entire J&K is worried about the new land laws, which should have been rolled back,” he added.
The Former Minister said that he has seen the shabby condition of main Road leading towards Khour from Akhnoor. “The development and mobile connectivity is one of the main issues of the people besides the land and job security,” he said.
He said that the Apni Party has categorically cleared its stand that the jobs and land should be exclusively protected for the locals.
“There is general worry among the people in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts in particular that outsiders will get jobs and buy land and the locals will be at the receiving end,” he said.
He assured the people that the Party stands with the people shoulder-to-shoulder and they will fight for the restoration of statehood to J&K.
He also highlighted the contribution of Dogra rulers and how this state came into being after the villagers expressed their resentment at the downgrading of J&K into a Union Territory.
Manjit Singh also appealed to the Government of India to hold talks with the agitating farmers to end their protest. “The farmers of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and other States of the Country are the backbone of the economy. Their suffering will affect the entire country and it is therefore, their demand that should be seriously looked into by the Govt,” said Manjit Singh. Prominent among those who attended the meeting include Apni Party senior leader Sohan Singh Soni, Vijay Kumar (Neta Ji), Ravi Kant Sharma and others.
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