Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday warned that terrorism will return to Jammu and Kashmir if the National Conference (NC)—Congress alliance was voted to power in the upcoming Assembly elections.

The Home Minister said there will be no talks with Pakistan until peace is restored and also ruled out restoration of cross-border trade from where money goes to terrorists.

Shah, who was addressing a largely attended meeting of BJP workers here, said these elections are an opportunity for the people of J&K to choose between terrorism, peace and development.

Earlier in the morning, Shah also held a meeting of the core committee of the BJP in which the party’s strategy for the Assembly elections was discussed.

He said that the NC-Congress alliance wants to release stone pelters, separatists and terrorist sympathisers to again destabilise Jammu and Kashmir.

“They want to push the border districts of Rajouri, Poonch and Jammu into the fire of terrorism”, the Home Minister said.

He said that the alliance will not be in a position to form a government in J&K and urged the youth of Kashmir to vote carefully as they have seen the sufferings during the rule of the three dynasties—Abdullahs, Muftis and Congress.

“Kashmir bore the impact of terrorism for decades, 10 years of the Modi government brought terror incidents down by 70 percent. There were governments in Kashmir that turned blind eye to terrorism. There are people who would come here and become chief ministers when there was peace and when there was terrorism, they would go to Delhi and drink coffee in coffee bars. After many years, the Amarnath Yatra was carried out fearlessly, the cinema halls have reopened and were screening movies till late night in the valley, Tazia procession was carried out in the valley after more than three decades”, Shah said.

He said the NC-Congress alliance wants to start talks with Pakistan, but this will not happen until there is peace in J&K.

The Home Minister said that the upcoming Assembly elections are historic as this is for the first time after Independence that the election in J&K is being held under one Tricolour and not two flags, one Constitution authored by Babasaheb Ambedkar. There can’t be two PMs in the country, there can only be one PM whom people of Kashmir to Kanyakumari elect and that is PM Narendra Modi.”

Asking the party workers to campaign wholeheartedly, Shah said “I want to make it clear that the BJP will fight the elections with full strength and will win. Those days are gone when someone else decides whose government will be formed, now the people of Jammu and Kashmir will elect the government of their choice”.

Hitting out at the NC that was talking of restoring autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said no power on earth can do that. “Rahul baba and NC are saying they will give Jammu and Kashmir the state status again. I want to ask Abdullah and Rahul baba, how can you give it back, tell me? Why are you making a fool of the people of Jammu and Kashmir? I have myself said in the Parliament that we will restore statehood of Jammu and Kashmir after the elections at an appropriate time. I didn’t say this in any public gathering but in Parliament”.

The Home Minister said that there are rumours here that the NC-Congress is going to form the government in J&K. “I have been a student of election statistics from a very young age and I am telling you this that the government of Congress and Farooq Abdullah can never be formed in Jammu and Kashmir”.

“The Congress and Farooq Abdullah government can never be formed in Jammu and Kashmir, I can see this writing on the wall. They are the same people who insulted Raja Hari Singh and externed him from J&K”. “We” will not let the reservation of Gujjars, Bakarwal, Paharis and Dalits be touched by the NC, Congress or any other party, Shah added.