Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a rally in Srinagar:
“You have come in such large numbers today. This enthusiasm of the youth, the message of peace in the eyes of the elders and such a large number of mothers and sisters, this is the new Kashmir. The aim of all of us is the rapid development of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Today, I have come amongst you with the message of energizing the spirit of rapid progress of Jammu & Kashmir. I see that today my brothers and sisters of Kashmir are saying ‘Khushamdeed PM’.
“I thank them from the bottom of my heart. The first round of voting started in 7 districts yesterday. It is a matter of great joy for all of us that such a large number of people came out of their homes to vote. More than 80% voting in Kishtwar, over 71% voting in Doda, over 70% voting in Ramban…The voting records were broken in many seats. This is a new history.
“Today the world is seeing how the people of Jammu and Kashmir are strengthening the democracy of India and I congratulate the people of Jammu and Kashmir for this. A few days ago, when I came to Jammu and Kashmir, I had said that three families are responsible for the destruction of J&K and since then these people are in panic, from Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir, these three families think how can anyone question them.
“The three families think that it is their birthright to capture power by any means and then loot you all. Their political agenda has been to deprive the people of Jammu and Kashmir of their legitimate rights. They have given only fear and anarchy to Jammu and Kashmir but now Jammu and Kashmir will no longer be in the grip of these three families…Now our youth here is challenging them. The youth whom they did not allow to progress have come out against them. The suffering that the youth of J&K have faced in the rule of these three families, is often not able to come out.
“Today, many of the youth of the valley who are 20-30 years old, have remained deprived of education. There are many who took more years than the rest of the students of the country to reach 10th, 12th or college. This did not happen because our youth of Jammu and Kashmir failed, but this happened because the three families of Congress, NC and PDP had failed.”
