Pampore: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson and a prominent national leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain on Tuesday addressed a public gathering in a village in Pampore block of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Hussain was campaigning for Bharatiya Janata Party nominated candidate for District Development Council (DDC) elections from Pampore block, Babeta Bhat.
Addressing the gathering at Mondakpal Ladhoo village of Pampore block, Hussain trained his guns at Congress and PAGD.
“These parties have no standing now. The Nehru’s Congress is on the verge of collapsing. The National Conference and PDP merged to form PAGD because they are scared by the rise of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kashmir,” Hussain said. He assured the gathering that he would raise the issue of ban on stone quarries at an appropriate level.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the programme at Mondakpal, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very popular among the locals in Kashmir.
“Local people have reposed trust in Narendra Modi and we will work to strengthen that trust,” he said, adding that people are fed up with Gupkaris’ and Congress.
He thanked local BJP leaders for organising a huge gathering and giving him a chance to speak to local people.
Other senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Vibodh Gupta, Er Aijaz Hussain, Darakshan Andrabi, Zaffar Ul Islam, Yaqoob Malik and G.M Mir also addressed to the public and asked people for casting their vote for Babeta Bhat.
The local leaders demanded to revoke a ban on stone quarry in the area as it has hit the livelihood of thousands of families.
They said that the stone quarry was the only source of earning livelihood for many poor families in the area but previous governments didn’t bother to address it.

BILAL HABIB