24 seats in J-K Assembly left vacant for PoK: Rajnath

Hitting out at Pakistan for protesting the withdrawal of special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said that 24 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir have been left vacant for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), which was illegally captured by the neighbouring country.

"By abolishing Section 370, our government has done a historic work, but Pakistan is unable to digest this. We accept the existence of Pakistan but PoK has been captured illegally by Pakistan. Even today, 24 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir have been left vacant for PoK," Rajnath said addressing an event on Jayanti of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya at Dhanuka.

The Defence Minister continued saying that he had warned Pakistan on several occasions not to repeat the mistake committed during 1971 war and it "should understand what happened in Balakot".

"In Balakot, we had killed the terrorists but did nothing to Pakistani soldiers. We did our jobs carefully but we cannot say what will happen further," he said.

Heaping praise on Prime Minister Singh said: "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our government is working on the path laid down by Deendayal ji. The work of converting agricultural land into irrigated land through the Prime Minister Irrigation Scheme has started. Through Skill India, we have begun the work to employ each hand."

"Prime Minister has started the work of providing tap and water facility in every house. A separate Ministry of Water Power has also been created for this. Its responsibility has also been entrusted to Gajendra Shekhawat, a resident of Rajasthan. People of this state know the value of water," he said.

Singh said that work of Jan Dhan Yojan under which 37 crore bank accounts were opened was not less than any "economic revolution".