Congress veteran and ex-Union Home Minister Shinde says he was scared to visit Kashmir during UPA regime :::: BJP says removing Art 370 did the trick

BJP says removing Art 370 did the magic in Jammu and Kashmir. 

And what a better way to tell the difference !!

Former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said he used to be scared of venturing out in the Kashmir Valley during the UPA government. The BJP mocked the Congress, highlighting the changes Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed following the abrogation of Article 370.

At the launch of his memoir in Delhi, Shinde said, "Before I became the Home Minister, I visited him (educationist Vijay Dhar). I used to ask him for advice. He advised me not to roam around but to visit Lal Chowk (in Srinagar), meet people and go around Dal Lake. 

That advice gave me publicity and people thought that here is a Home Minister who goes there without any fear, but who do I tell that I was scared? I told you this just to make you laugh, but an ex-policeman can't speak like this".  

A day after his remarks, made at the launch of his memoir 'Five Decades of Politics', the BJP mocked the Congress, and said that the abrogation of Article 370 has strengthened democracy.  

Of course, analysts would be asking what would Rahul Gandhi say now overseas ??  

Sushil Kumar Shinde served as Union Home Minister from August 2012 to May 2014, during the UPA-II government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.  

Reacting to Shinde's remark, BJP leader and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said, "The difference is clear. Congress rule: Home Minister was scared to venture out in Kashmir. Modi era: 2-3 crore tourists are visiting Jammu and Kashmir yearly. 

"Abrogation of Article 370 has strengthened democracy, diminished influence of corrupt political dynastic families and positively transformed the lives of Kashmiris."

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "Today Rahul Gandhi was comfortably seen doing Bharat Jodo Yatra and snow fight in Kasmir. 

But National Conference and Congress want to take J&K back to days of terror."

The BJP-led NDA government has credited its decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir for reduction in militancy in the region.  

There is a perceptible change in the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019 when the controversial Article 370 was abrogated and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two.

Declining statistics of terror activities and related matters could be one major issue involved, the bigger achievement is in the form of perceptible change in the overall perception.

"Earlier parents used to feel proud if their ward/children joined terrorism/militancy. Now they say their ward is not a terrorist. They also appeal to the children to come out if they joined any terror outfit and return to mainstream," those in the know of things said in November 2022.