PM Modi was in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir for first time since Article 370 was scrapped.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the "new Jammu and Kashmir... for which we all were waiting for many decades", as he addressed a rally in Srinagar Thursday afternoon. Unveiling development projects worth several thousands of crores, the Prime Minister also declared J&K is now "breathing freely" and developing at a rapid pace after his government's contentious scrapping of Article 370.
At a rally at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium, the Prime Minister said, "Today there is no 370 (and) hence talent of the youth of Jammu and Kashmir is respected and they are getting new opportunities."
"Today, J&K is touching new heights of development... J&K is breathing freely today. This freedom from restrictions has come after the removal of Article 370," he thundered.
The PM also took a swipe at his rivals, accusing the Congress and its allies - including J&K's National Conference and the Peoples' Democratic Party - of misleading people for political gain.
"For decades, for political gains, Congress and its allies misled people in the name of 370. But today there are equal rights and opportunities for all. The people know the truth... they were misled."
"This is the new Jammu and Kashmir for which we all were waiting for many decades. This is the new Jammu and Kashmir, for which Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life," the PM said.
"There is a sparkle of future in the eyes of this new Jammu and Kashmir... there is courage in the intentions of this new Jammu and Kashmir to overcome the challenges," he continued.
Mr Modi was making his first to Srinagar since the scrapping of Article 370 - which gave the former state of Jammu and Kashmir special privileges - and J&K divided into two union territories. It was, though, his second trip in the past three weeks; he was in Jammu on February 20.
Mr Modi's visit also comes with a general election on the horizon and the Supreme Court's deadline to his government - to hold an Assembly election by September 30. A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was ruling on pleas challenging the government's scrapping of Article 370.
READ | In Historic J&K Ruling, Supreme Court Sets Election Deadline
The BJP has made no secret of its plan to make scrapping of Article 370 central to its election agenda, both in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, as well as across the country.
In the 2019 election, the BJP and the National Conference of former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah split J&K's six Lok Sabha seats; the Srinagar seat was won by Mr Abdullah.
The BJP has never won this seat, which has been a bastion for the National Conference since the first election in 1967. Only the Congress (1996) and ex-Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's Peoples' Democratic Party (2014) have managed wins in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat.
On his last visit to J&K the Prime Minister launched multiple development projects - including those for education, railway, aviation and transport - worth over Rs 32,000 crore.
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