JKPCC, DCC  Jammu  launches  ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’; over price rise, un-employment,  anti-people policies of Modi Govt.

Jammu, Nov. 14:  An impressive function followed by protest march towards Raj Bhawan was held by the Congress party today to launch  15 days long Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ against the Modi Govt’s policies and failures on various fronts especially the unprecedented price rise, large scale unemployment and anti-farmers and anti-poor policies.

  Hundreds of Congress workers led by Senior Leaders of PCC, DCC Jammu and frontal wings were taken into custody while marching towards Raj Bhawan protesting against the failures of the BJP Govt. on various fronts.

 Coinciding with the birth anniversary of first Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Congress party held an impressive rally at Gole Market Gandhinagar, Jammu as part of the Indian National Congress nationwide mass agitation campaign – ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ organized by Former Minister and Vice President JKPCC Shri Raman Bhalla along with DCC Jammu Urban led by Shri Yogesh Sawhney and various frontal wings and cells which was attended by several senior leaders and functionaries of the party.

 After paying rich tributes to the first Prime Minister and architect of modern India  Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Senior leaders including former Ministers and Legislators  Shri Mula Ram, Shri Yogesh Sawhney, Ravinder Sharma, Balwan Singh, Kanta Bhan, Ashok Sharma, Rajnish Sharma,  Indu Pawar,  Hari Singh Chib, Uday Bhanu Chib Sunny Parihar,  Vijay Sharma, S. Gurdarshan Singh, Pawan Raina, Sanjeev Panda Shashi Sharma, Thomas Khokhar,  Suresh Dogra, Karan Bhagat,  Hussain Ali Waffa, Amrit Bali, Gajan Singh, Adv. Deepika Rajawat, Sahil Sharma, Kapil Singh, Corporators Bano Mahajan, Ritu Choudhary, Kamal Singh, Mandeep Kour & Pritam Singh, Rajiv Saraf, Narinder Gupta, Ravinder Singh, Gurmeet Kour, Bharat Priya, Michael Wazir, Vandana Makhnotra, Dr. R.K. Khajuria  Jatin Vashisht, Satish Sharma, Pawan Dev Singh, Sanjay Manhas, Ms. Tammana, Ricky Dalotra, Jatinder Singh Chib, Sandeep Dogra, Uttam Singh Sajjad Tariq, and others led a peaceful protest march towards Raj Bhawan carrying play cards and raising slogans against BJP Govt.’s policies when a heavy contingent of police force prevented them from proceeding ahead and arrested them and took them to Police Lines Jammu.

 Other prominent leaders and activists who participated include Madan Lal Malagar, Yudhvir Singh, Surinder Singh Dutt, Chander Shekhar, Atul Sharma, Ram Magotra, Kashmir Singh, Gurmeet  Singh, Baldev Singh Wazir, Vijay Singh Chib, Latish Sharma, Diwan Chand, Gagan Bral, Vijay Kumar Viju, Vijay Kumar Babi, Pawan Bhagat, Pardeep Bhalla, Satpal Sapolia,  Ajay Mattu, Vipin Sharma, Harvinder Kaur, Paras Ram Baloria, Vishal, Ashwani Sethi, Sanjay Gupta, Murli, Sahil Savotra, Manohar Lal Motton, Kuldeep Gupta, Rajinder Singh, Gurvinder Singh Deepu and others,

 Earlier addressing the gathering Shri Mula Ram paid rich tributes to the former Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and remembered his great contribution in the freedom struggle and as First Prime Minister of the Country and described him as the architect of modern India.

He said that the present BJP Govt. led by Shri Narinder Modi has been systematically destroying the democratic institutions and the culture in the country and spreading hatred besides destroying the economy and harming the pluralistic harmony  He asked the people to oppose the wrong policies of the BJP and force the Govt. through democratic means to shun its anti-people anti-poor and anti-youth policies.

 Speaking on the occasion Shri Rman Bhalla said that the economy has hit the lowest high while lakhs of people became jobless. He said that the BJP government has been “running the public harassment campaign” for so long, and now the Congress party has started the ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ to demand justice for the people of the country. The people of the country are having a severe and miserable way of life due to the policies of the PM Modi led government. In the last two years, we are witnessing a terrible price rise of petrol, diesel and edible oil.

 He said that the Congress party had been undertaking multiple campaigns in J&K but the Central government was silent on the crisis of inflation. The Congress party has undertaken several campaigns, but the Centre is still in “deep slumber”, he said. “The Congress party has again decided to wake the Modi government up from its slumber and launch a public awareness campaign against the rising inflation from November 14 to 29,” Bhalla said.

  Bhalla said that the unemployment rate is at an all-time high at 8-9%. “During 10 years of Govt, Congress-UPA pulled 27 crore Indians out from ‘Below the Poverty Line’(BPL). Over the last two years, the Modi Govt has pushed 23 crore fellow Indians back below the poverty line”, he said. Citing data, he said that 14 crore jobs were lost during the Covid period alone. Crores of daily wagers and the salaried class have faced up to 50% salary cut.

 The government’s own ‘Periodic Labour Force Survey’ has further highlighted the miserable conditions, farmers are forced to live in. The survey highlights that farmers in India earn an average of Rs 27 per day, even below the MGNREGA wage. 22 out of 36 states and UTs have run out of MGNREGA funds and an additional Rs 50 thousand Crore of budgeted outlay is required, which Modi Govt is refusing to provide. All this is adding to the woes of the people.

 The Jan Jagran Abhiyan will focus on these woes of people and During the course of the ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’, Congress party workers will reach out to the maximum number of people across J&K to strengthen the people’s voice against the unprecedented price rise in cooking gas, diesel, petrol, cooking oil, pulses and other essential commodities, added Bhalla.

 Bhalla said the prices of mustard and other edible oils have doubled in the last year, while seasonal vegetable prices have increased by 40-50 per cent in a month. “The cost of subsidized LPG cylinder has gone up by 50 per cent to Rs 900-1,000 in the last one year. Similarly, petrol and diesel prices have gone up by Rs 34.38 and 24.38 to Rs 103.97 and Rs 86.67 per litre, respectively in the last 18 months,” he added. The party believes the Narendra Modi government has not been signed by the galloping fuel prices because people are not aware of the basic facts and has decided to explain through the campaign how the Centre has “looted” Rs 23 lakh crore over the past seven years through taxes on petroleum products. “Even after the reduction of taxes last week, the central excise on petrol is Rs 29 per litre which was just Rs 9.48 during the Congress-led UPA regime. On diesel, the central excise is Rs 28 per litre against Rs 3 in 2014,” Bhalla said. Back-breaking price rise and inflation and loss of jobs have made life miserable for the common man. The people of the country are undergoing tremendous misery because of the policies and actions of the Modi government.

 Bhalla further said that development in all the regions and sub-regions of J&K, urban and rural areas alike, has become a big casualty due to the self-centric approach of govt who are unfortunately again trying to hoodwink the public opinion by making false and misleading promises and indulging in emotive politics. Terming Congress Party as a dependable political platform for the people of J&K, Bhalla said assuaging the socio-economic and political aspirations of the people and undertaking development on a massive scale holds key to steering J&K to peace and prosperity. Congress is a force to reckon with as we have delivered significantly on our commitments made while in power. It was Congress Party President who got the domicile law on jobs for J&K modified thereby ensuring the protection of all categories of jobs for the youth of J&K,” Bhalla observed.

  Bhalla demanded immediate restoration of statehood and a democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir while alleging that the Centre has “utterly failed” to tackle the situation here. Expressing concern over selective civilian killings and martyrdom of soldiers, Bhalla said this means that neither is the Government of India, under whose direct jurisdiction in Jammu and Kashmir, able to understand the situation nor can it tackle the situation,” he said. “We demand that full statehood be given to Jammu and Kashmir immediately and there should be a government by the democratic process and as per the Constitution of the country, and not by bypassing the Constitution.

 Th. Balwan Singh, former MLA and General Secretary PCC  said that the Congress party under the great leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and others struggled and sacrificed for the freedom of the country and Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru laid a strong foundation of democracy in the country but the present BJP Govt. led by Shri Modi has destroyed the democratic institutions and the culture and suppressing the voice of dissent against wrong policies.

 He said the farmers, educated youth, businessmen and common man is suffering a lot because of the wrong policies and the tax terrorism of the Modi Govt. and Congress party is the only hope of the people to fight against the oppressive measures of the present regime.

  Smt. Kanta Bhan paid rich tributes to Pt. Nehru and asked the Congressmen the people to fight the wrong policies of the present Govt. and bring about a change of power to give relief to the suffering people.

 Chief Spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said that the Congress party fought against the oppressive  British rule and brought freedom and it’s bounden duty of the Congress workers to safeguard the freedom and democracy and fight against the politics of hate and the division by the BJP and to struggle for the welfare and rights of the common man . The 15 days nationwide  Jan Jagaran Abhiyan will focus on various anti-people policies of the BJP Govt. throughout the country.

 Shri Ashok Sharma-former MLA and National Coordinator Vichar Manch remembered the struggle and contributions of  Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru and asked the party men to launch a decisive battle against the wrong policies of the Modi Govt. and fight for the rights of the common man especially the youth, farmers, labourers and the businessmen who all are sufferers today.

 Earlier  Shri Yogesh Sawhney-Former Minister General Secretary PCC Incharge Dist. Jammu Urban welcomed the large gathering of workers from entire parts of Jammu Urban and surrounding areas who came out in large numbers to show their determination to fight against the economic policies and hatred being spread by the BJP and  Modi led Govt. He said that the Congress party shall intensify its democratic struggle for the rights of each and every section of the society who have suffered under the tax regime and anti-people policies of the Modi Govt.

 Several other senior leaders and corporators addressed the gathering lashing out at the  BJP Govt. for its tax terrorism and anti-people policies, they include Smt. Indu Pawar Ex-MLA President Mahila Congress, Corporators Bhano Mahajan, Ritu Choudhary, Th. Kamal Singh, Gurdarshan Singh,  Uday Chib, Sunny Parihar, Vijay Sharma, , Pawan Raina, Shashi Sharma Sanjeev Panda, Spokespersons Deepika Rajwat, Kapal Singh Chib, Sahil Sharma, Suresh Dogra, Karan Bhagat, Gajan Singh, Amrit Bali, Ravinder Singh, Bharat Priya, Gurmeet Kour, Ricky Dalotra and various others.