BJP believes in winning hearts; 'lotus' will bloom: Amit Shah to Kashmiris

The BJP believes in winning the hearts of people which will ultimately lead to the 'lotus', his party's poll symbol, blooming across the Valley, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday, rejecting rival parties' charge the BJP was more interested in the land of Kashmir than the welfare of its people.

While reaching out to the youths of Kashmiri, he slammed the Congress, the National Conference and the PDP, alleging these parties were responsible for fake encounters and incidents of firing on the youth in the Valley.

But the BJP, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, restored peace and ensured development after the abrogation of Article 370 by putting an end to terrorism, stone-pelting and Pakistan-sponsored strikes, he said.

The BJP's rival parties have asked people not to vote for the BJP and its "proxies", claiming the ruling party was more interested in the land of Kashmir than the welfare of its people.

"I want to clear the misgivings being created among Kashmiri youths that the BJP wants to take the land of Kashmir by force. The BJP is not among those who occupy land by force but believes in winning the hearts of people," Shah told an election rally here in support of Jugal Kishore, who is seeking a re-election for his third term from the Jammu parliamentary constituency.

Shah said the BJP is in no haste as it knows that the party's symbol 'lotus' will bloom on its own in the Valley with the love of people.

He asked people in Kashmir not to vote for the Congress, National Conference and PDP, saying they have exploited.

"These three parties did not allow democracy to grow in Jammu and Kashmir... on the pretext of security, our Kashmiri youths were exploited. I want to ask (National Conference president) Farooq Abdullah and the PDP as to under whose rule most of the fake encounters took place? And who fired on the children of Kashmir, handed over guns to them?

"These are the three parties responsible for all this. Modiji restored peace in Jammu and Kashmir and paved the way for the region's development. J and K slipped into backwardness due to terrorism and agitations for the past 70 years. Modi facilitated the end of terrorism, stone-pelting, and separatism and paved the way for development in J&K," he said.