Several Parties Are Keen To Join BJP-Led NDA For Development Of Country: Anurag Thakur

Several parties are keen to join the NDA for the development of the country and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has taken the lead, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Tuesday.

The minister expressed confidence that the initiative of NCP to join the NDA and become part of the Maharashtra government would strengthen the government and the BJP will continue to provide a strong and stable government at the Centre after the 2024 general elections.

Mr Thakur was speaking to media persons on his arrival at Kangra Airport.

Replying to a question regarding the hearing of pleas by the Supreme Court challenging the scrapping of Article 370, Mr Thakur said that Jammu and Kashmir got its right after 75 years and peace, brotherhood, and development have increased following the decision.

He said that incidents of terrorist attacks and stone pelting have reduced drastically, strict action is being taken against terrorists, the arrival of tourists has increased manifold and investors are heading towards Jammu and Kashmir.

All these changes validate the decision to remove Article 370, he said.

Later, addressing a function in Gagret in Una district, he said that "dharma is with the BJP" and the party is all set to repeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

He claimed that those trying to upset the BJP's apple cart will be completely washed out this time.

The achievements of the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are unparalleled and people want the NDA to return to power again, he added.

He claimed that ministers of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's cabinet in Himachal Pradesh have different opinions on the uniform civil code and asked the Congress leader to clarify his stand on UCC.

State PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh had on Friday extended his "full support" for a uniform civil code while urging against its "politicisation".

He also questioned why the NDA government at the Centre did not implement such a law when it enjoyed a complete majority in Parliament for nine years.

"Why is there propaganda on it just a few months before the elections," he asked.

However, Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar had on Sunday termed Mr Singh's statement as his personal opinion and said that Congress had not taken any decision in this regard.

On Monday, the state BJP chief Rajiv Bindal also asked Mr Sukhu to clear his stance on the issue.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)