Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the Congress-National Conference government will give top priority to economic upliftment and job creation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rahul, who interacted with more than 300 business owners and professionals here, promised that a Congress-alliance government would boost the business environment and reduce tax harassment. He provided a platform for open dialogue on challenges faced by them in J&K.

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The Congress leader said that the coalition government would take export initiatives and improve access to capital for the micro, small and medium enterprises.

Later, Rahul, also the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, addressed election rallies in Jammu and Sopore in North Kashmir.

Targeting the BJP-led government at the centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the INDIA alliance will use its full force within the Parliament and even hit the roads if the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir is not restored after the ongoing assembly elections.

Addressing rallies in support of the party candidates whose constituencies will go to polls in the third and the final phase of the assembly election in J&K, Rahul said injustice has been done with the people as Jammu and Kashmir was the first state that was downgraded into a Union Territory in the history of independent India.

He said splitting J&K into two UTs was a grave injustice with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

“It should have never happened and I guarantee you that if the BJP does restore the statehood, we will use our full force in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and even come on the streets for the restoration of statehood to J&K.

He alleged that the statehood was snatched from J&K to benefit “outsiders” through Lt. Governor.

“As long as the Lt. Governor is there, outsiders will benefit and the locals will be sidelined. This was the reason that statehood was snatched from J&K. They wanted J&K to be run by outsiders and not locals,” he said.

Rahul said there was a systematic attack on small and medium businesses in the rest of the country as well.

“This government runs for Ambani and Adani. And the GST and demonetization were weapons used to clear the road for them.”

He also criticised the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative by calling it ‘make in Adani’ programme, and claiming that all the contracts under the policy were being given to the business conglomerate Adani.

He accused the BJP government and the Lt. Governor of breaking the backbone of Jammu which was the central hub of Jammu and Kashmir, facilitating a smooth flow of the production chain from the Kashmir valley to the rest of the country.

He accused the BJP-RSS of spreading hatred across the country and “my” ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ aimed to convey the message to them that “if you can open the market of hate, we can open the shop of love.”

Speaking at Sopore, the apple belt of J&K, Rahul said we have to make the apples of Kashmir available in the entire world.

He announced that the Congress-NC coalition will provide a MSP of Rs 72 per kg for apple, 100 per cent crop insurance and Rs 2500 crore for irrigation projects.