Jammu & Kashmir has exited the era of bomb blasts and entered the age of development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a public rally on Tuesday, hailing the government’s decision to revoke Article 370, slamming dynasty politics for keeping the region deprived of growth, and urging people in the Union territory to propel the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) past 370 seats and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) across the 400 mark in the upcoming general elections.

Modi, speaking in Maulana Azad Stadium in Jammu City where he lay the foundation stone of development projects worth ₹32,000 crore across the region, described Article 370 as a wall that thwarted the development of Jammu & Kashmir, and said that the it was now razed to the ground.

“Article 370 was the biggest wall in the development of J&K, and BJP razed it. We will fulfil the unfulfilled dreams of the last 70 years of the people of J&K in the next few years — this is Modi’s guarantee, which is guaranteed,” he said.

The term “Modi ki gaurantee” is one of the buzzwords of the BJP in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

“See the power of 370. After its revocation, today, I have the courage to ask the countrymen to give 370 (seats) to BJP in the coming elections and take NDA beyond 400 mark,” he said. “Now, J&K is cruising on the path of balanced and holistic development. I have heard that a movie on Article 370 will be released soon. I think your story (people of J&K) is going to be told to the nation,” the PM added.

The Union government, through a bill in Parliament, revoked Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution — which gave special status and special privileges to the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir — on August 5, 2019.

“There was a time when only sad news like bomb blasts, guns, kidnappings and separatism emerged from J&K. Such things had become the misfortune of Jammu and Kashmir. But now Jammu and Kashmir is moving forward with the determination to develop. Today itself, the foundation stone of projects worth over ₹32,000 crores has been laid and some have been inaugurated. These are projects related to education, skills, employment, health, industry and connectivity,” he said.

In the context of the Article 370 move, Modi also said that his government was upholding the Constitution by conferring fundamental rights and reservation to refugees from the Valmiki community, Gadda Brahmin community, Kohlis, and Kashmiri Pandits.

“After revocation of Article 370, the women in J&K got their rights from which they were deprived for decades together,” he said, and pointed to the tourism boom in the region over the past four years.

The projects relate to several sectors, including health, education, rail, road, aviation, petroleum, and civic infrastructure, among others. The Prime Minister also distributed appointment orders to about 1500 new government recruits from Jammu and Kashmir. He also interacted with beneficiaries of various government schemes as part of the ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu’ program.

PM Modi also flagged off the first electric train in the valley and also the train service between Sangaldan station and Baramulla station.

Modi, on his first visit to J&K since an April 2022 rally at Palli village in Samba, said that the youth of the region were now liberating themselves from dynastic politics — a reference not just to the Congress at the national level but the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC) in the Union territory.

“For several decades J&K remained a victim of dynastic politics. Those who ran governments here always watched their self interests and never cared about hopes and aspirations of the people. And if someone bore the largest brunt of it, it was our youth,” he said.

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“A government whose priority is the welfare of just one family cannot think of the welfare of the common people. I am happy to see Jammu and Kashmir is getting free from the dynastic rule,” Modi added.

J&K sends five members to Parliament — two from Jammu (currently held by the BJP) and three in the Kashmir valley (currently held by the NC).

Among the attendees was former J&K deputy CM Muzaffar Hussain Baig of the PDP, sparking some speculation that he may switch over to the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The leader, however, said he had just come to see India’s Prime Minister.

Modi said that no one will be left out of J&K’s development story.

“We will make J&K developed in the next few years and fulfil the unfulfilled dreams of the past 70 years,” he asserted.

He recalled his Lalkar Rally at the same venue in 2013, before he was prime minister, when he had raised questions why J&K can’t have top higher education institutions. “Today J&K has IIT, IIM and two AIIMS. That’s why people refer to Modi’s guarantee. There were days when schools were burnt and today the schools are decorated,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister also blamed the Congress for “sitting on” the one rank, one pension (OROP) demand of the armed forces for 40 years.

“They (Congress) kept telling lies and peddled fake promises to the soldiers but it was eventually done by the BJP government. Because of OROP, ex-servicemen in J&K alone got over ₹1,600 crores in benefits,” he said.

Modi referred to his recent visit to Gulf countries, saying there was positivity in West Asia among people who were keen on investing in J&K. “Today there is enthusiasm among the world towards J&K, successful G20 meet in Kashmir has made an impact around the world. The entire world is impressed immensely by natural beauty, tradition, culture and hospitality of people of J&K,” he said.

Reacting to the PM’s comments, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee working president Raman Bhalla said, “The youth find themselves in a very precarious situation with no hope in sight in the near future. Much disappointing fact about the speech was the stoic silence of the PM over the regularization of about 80,000 daily wagers, casual labourers, need- based, adhoc based workers in various departments who along with their families are suffering for decades.”

National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said that most of the projects that the Prime Minister inaugurated were announced during UPA years.

“As far as his statement on Article 370 is concerned, there is no empirical data available that can suggest that it was an impediment to development. In fact, if one goes throught the official data released by government agencies prior to abrogation, the indices of development in J&K were far better than most states in the country. The same BJP was earlier saying that 370 was responsible for militancy in the region but now that rhetoric has completely faded from their narratives, for reasons known to them,” he said.

PDP additional spokesman Rafeeq Rather said the visit seems more political. “We welcome development if it really takes place. Since election are nearer thus BJP is trying to lure people on fake and false slogans and promises. Even today in such a cold weather government schools were used along students and employees to listen to the live speech of PM. The way men and machinery is being used in BJP propagation is evident from today’s program at Jammu,” he said.