DDC elections have written new chapter in Jammu and Kashmir: PM Modi

The DDC polls in Jammu and Kashmir have written a new chapter in the region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Saturday, and cited the transparent election process and enthusiastic participation of voters to say it is a "moment of pride" for India.

Launching a scheme via video-conference to extend the benefits of Ayushman Bharat to all residents of the union territory, Modi also hit out at the Congress for offering him lessons in democracy while "not carrying out panchayat and municipal polls" in Puducherry, a UT where the opposition party is in power.

Modi noted that the three-tier panchayat polls were carried out in Jammu and Kashmir in over a year after it became a union territory.

Attacking the Congress without naming it, he said some people in Delhi offer him lessons in democracy day in and day out, and use "abuses" for him, but they have not carried out panchayat polls in Puducherry despite a Supreme Court order.

In a recent attack on the Modi government over the farmers' agitation against the three new agri laws, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had claimed that there is "no democracy" in India.

The District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir have seen people winning due to their work and not names, the prime minister said.

The Centre has undertaken all-round development of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

Modi said a big mistake of those who were in power for decades in the country was to ignore the development of border regions, including Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states, but his government has rectified this.