The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said it will not participate in the National Conference’s proposed protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on July 20, describing it as an “eyewash” aimed at diverting public attention from the ruling party’s alleged governance failures.
Addressing a press conference, Leader of the Opposition and BJP MLA Sunil Sharma alleged that the National Conference was attempting to shift focus from issues such as governance, unemployment and corruption by organising the protest demanding restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
“The much-publicised Delhi protest is nothing but a political gimmick to divert attention from the government’s complete failure on governance, unemployment and corruption,” Sharma said.
The National Conference has invited 52 political and religious leaders from across the country to join its protest at Jantar Mantar seeking restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood. The party has also invited J&K BJP president Sat Sharma.
However, Sunil Sharma said the BJP would stay away from the demonstration. “They have come up with new theatrics to hide their failures. This is an eyewash. Statehood will be restored through Parliament, not through protests at Jantar Mantar,” he said.
Reiterating the BJP’s commitment to restoring statehood, Sharma said the party had never deviated from its stand but maintained that the process would take place through Parliament rather than street protests.
He also criticised the National Conference for allegedly failing to make statehood a key election promise and accused it of raising the issue now to evade accountability for its governance record.
Announcing the BJP’s next course of action, Sharma said the party would launch a mass agitation against the government’s outsourcing policy, beginning in Kashmir before expanding to every district, town and village across Jammu and Kashmir.
Describing outsourcing as the “biggest-ever appointment scam” in the Union Territory, Sharma alleged that the policy deprived meritorious youth of employment while facilitating backdoor appointments.
“We will begin this movement with a gherao of the Civil Secretariat. The BJP will not remain silent and will fight for the rights of unemployed youth,” he said, urging the government to roll back the outsourcing policy.
Sharma also accused the government of institutionalising corruption, alleging that a thriving “transfer industry” had emerged in which transfers and postings were influenced by money.
He further claimed that the National Conference had failed to fulfil several key promises made before the Assembly elections, including providing 10 kg of free ration, 200 units of free electricity, one lakh government jobs and 12 free LPG cylinders annually.