Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi freeing Jammu and Kashmir from the clutches of terrorism and separatism by abrogating Article 370 was one of the biggest achievements of the BJP-led government.

Thakur, who was accompanying the BJP candidate for Jammu Lok Sabha seat Jugal Kishore for filing his nomination papers here, said that the Modi Government has initiated a number of development projects in Jammu and Kashmir during the past ten years.

He said that J&K has recorded a decline of 75 per cent in terror attacks, 81 per cent in killing of civilians and 50 per cent drop in casualties of security personnel after Modi became the Prime Minister. It was possible because of a strong government at the centre. He asked people to vote in favour of the BJP candidates for a third term.

Thakur said that the Modi government strongly stands behind the security forces and our government conducted surgical strikes after the Uri terror attack in 2016, whereas the previous Congress governments would have done nothing. We also conducted aerial strikes by IAF deep inside Pakistan following the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in which 40 jawans lost their lives, he added.

Listing the major development projects launched in J&K by the Modi government, Thakur said that work on the rail line for linking Kashmir with the rest of the country and widening of the strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway is going on speedily.

Prestigious institutions like AIIMS, IIM, IIT and several other projects have been established here. The Delhi-Katra expressway is being built to facilitate Vaishnodevi pilgrims and boost the economy of J&K that was in shambles prior to 2014 when the Modi government came to power.

BJP candidate Jugal Kishore had won the Jammu Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and 2019.