J-K bypoll: Jitendra Singh campaigns for niece in Nagrota, says Modi govt brought area to mainstream

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday addressed a public rally in support of his niece and BJP candidate Devyani Rana in Jammu and Kashmir's Nagrota assembly constituency.

Addressing a rally in Jindrah, the Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office highlighted the Narendra Modi-led Central government's achievements in the last 10 years. Alleging that the earlier governments consciously discriminated against far-flung areas such as Nagrota as part of their appeasement policy to humour a certain section of the vote bank, Singh said, ''It was only after Modi took over as Prime Minister in 2014 that the decades of discrimination ended in Jammu and Kashmir.'' Devyani Rana was not present at the rally as she was touring other parts of the constituency, which is set for a by-election along with Budgam assembly seat in Kashmir on November 14.

A bypoll was necessitated in Nagrota by the demise of Jitendra Singh's younger brother and BJP legislator Devender Singh Rana on October 31 last year, while the Budgam seat fell vacant after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah retained Ganderbal -- his family's bastion -- after winning the two assembly seats in last year's elections.

BJP has fielded Devender Rana's daughter Devyani Rana from Nagrota and Aga Syed Mohsin from Budgam, while the National Conference has given its mandate to District Development Council Member Shamim Begum from Nagrota and former minister Agha Syed Mehbooba from Budgam. Former minister Harsh Dev Singh is also part of the race in Nagrota. Speaking at the rally, Jitendra Singh said, ''It was only in the last 11 or 12 years that even a backward place like Nagrota became part of India's mainstream and witnessed overnight transformation with the opening of high-profile institutions like IIT and IIM, one after another.'' The Union minister said the Modi government has sought to change the political culture ''to reach out to those who need us the most, regardless of who they vote for.'' He cited schemes like Prime Minister's Ujwala Yojana for women, which provided a gas cylinder to every needy housewife without considering whom she had voted for.

Stating that the youths today have a mind of their own that cannot be swayed easily, he made a special appeal to them, to ask themselves where their future was safe and promising. ''They will themselves conclude that there was no better alternative than a party led and guided by Modi, and whose each worker was accountable for his or her performance,'' Singh said.

Pointing to his personal connection with Jindrah, Singh said his grandmother Durga Devi, who passed away 25 years ago at the age of 93, hailed from there. ''That was the early 20th century,'' he recalled.