BJP stands for corruption free J&K: Fmr dy CM Gupta

Senior BJP leader Kavinder Gupta on Wednesday said his party stands for "corruption free Jammu and Kashmir" and graft charges against the state's politicians must be probed.

The statement comes after the Enforcement Directorate questioned former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged financial irregularities in the state's cricket association.

Gupta, the former deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, lashed out at the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Congress leadership, saying if they had delivered good governance in the past, the situation in Kashmir would have been much better.

"The guilty should be punished as per law," he said without taking any name.

Accusing the opposition leaders of giving "anti-national statements out of frustration" after exhausting all options to lure voters, the BJP leader said rooting out sympathisers of Pakistan from the state in the upcoming assembly elections, schedule of which has not been announced yet, is the only solution to all problems.

He said BJP led government at the centre returned to the power in 2019 due to its strong developmental, national and foreign policies which the opposition parties till cannot digest.

"People of Kashmir want to live a peaceful life but these politicians play with the emotions of the public," he said in an apparent reference to the stand taken by NC and PDP for safeguarding Article 370 and Article 35A of the constitution which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

"Had these politicians delivered good governance with the focus on raising the living standard of the people by providing best infrastructure, the situation in Kashmir would have been different," Gupta said.

He said people of Kashmir have to understand the motto of such leaders who consider themselves as representatives of Kashmir by getting only a few per cent of the total votes during polls.