Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], October 1 : Bharatiya Janata Party MP and the party's state president in Andhra Pradesh Daggubati Purandeswari criticised the INDIA bloc on Tuesday, claiming that the alliance has been using Jammu and Kashmir for their own selfish means.
Appealing to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, she asked them to consider the economic progress, peace and security in the region and vote the NDA alliance into power.
"My honest appeal to the people of Jammu and Kashmir would be, we all know that these are the people who have used Jammu and Kashmir for their own selfish means. If people really want peace in Jammu and Kashmir, if they want the region to progress economically, it would be ideal to bring NDA into power there so that the abrogation of 370 would continue and economic activity would improve, and the youth will get employment," she said.
"I am sure they would have taken all of that into consideration and stand up not for families, I hope they stand up for the country," she added.
She further said that she is hopeful that the results would be in favour of NDA, claiming that before it was considered that people of Jammu and Kashmir are not part of India, but post the abrogation of Article 370, they were integrated
She said, "Elections in J&K are underway. We are hopeful that the results will be encouraging for the NDA, the reasons being that because of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir was not part of India, but after NDA had come into power and following the strong belief that Jammu and Kashmir is part of India, Article 370 was removed, along with 35 A. The result is that the people believe that they are part of India."
She also said that Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah and INDIA bloc have repeatedly said that they will bring back Article 370.
"But today, if we see the INDI alliance, it can be Mehbooba Mufti it can be Omar Abdullah, they all speak of saying that once they come into power they are going to ensure it is bought back"
She said further that the people of the region were now able to get the benefits of all the laws being passed by the parliament because of the abrogation.
"After the abrogation of Article 370, the laws that were implemented in India are also being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir, that means that the poor people, the backward people are benefiting out of that," the BJP MP said.
Mentioning the booming tourism, economy and the increased employment opportunity in the region, she said, "There is a lot of peace in the region. Economic activity has improved, tourists also who are visiting have today increased in great numbers. Because economy activity is improving, tourism is booming, there is a lot of employment opportunity for the youth."
At least 415 candidates are contesting in the third phase. The three-phase election involves a multi-party contest for the 90 seats across the former state.

The National Conference (NC) and the Congress have formed an alliance for these elections, while the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are among the other major contenders. The counting of the votes will be done on October 8.