Success of Amit Shah's rally in Baramulla shows changing face of J-K

By Payal Mehta
New Delhi [India], October 6 : For the first time after three decades, a Union Minister went to Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir to hold a rally.
On October 5, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a rally in Baramulla. Sources said Shah's rally got a phenomenal response from the people of the district.
As per the sources present in the rally, the highest cheering was witnessed when the Home Minister spoke about the availability of free gas cylinders for women. It is also reported that in the hilly areas of the Union Territory, women registered to get the Ujjwala scheme benefit and got two cylinders instead of one.

"The development of Jammu and Kashmir is the prime agenda of the PM Modi government at the Centre. BJP does not wish to ally with any of the regional players in J-K," a top BJP source told ANI.
Another source told ANI that, "the briefing given to the security agencies in the region is to ensure complete wipe out of terrorism and its supporters."

The changing face of Jammu and Kashmir was evident from the fact that crowds turned up in huge numbers and it was a responsive gathering. "The entire gathering of over 40,000 joined in as the Home Minister shouted the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. Something that had never been said here, the source added.
Shah met the family of a slain police officer in Jammu and Kashmir. On the request of the family members, Union Home Minister took a call within seconds to scale a steep hill to pay floral tributes to the actual grave of the officer and meet an old relative.
"That shows what means to the Modi government as far as people of Jammu and Kashmir and the sentiments are concerned," sources said.
The Election Commission of India has already prepared the electoral roll and is in the process of its corrections which sources said could be completed in the next couple of months as a substantial number of new voters are likely to be added to the J-K voter list.
"The Modi government's stand remains the same. There will be no talks with Pakistan or Pakistan sympathisers," the sources further said.
Only time will say whether BJP, which has broken records in several places including the northeast where they did not have any presence at all, is able to repeat the same performance in Jammu and Kashmir when the election will be held eventually. However, the Baramulla rally appears to be like another glass ceiling has been broken.