NEW DELHI: With an eye on the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir scheduled for September, Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda July 23rd unfurled in Parliament an economic package for the state which includes the construction of a 290kmlong railway line from Udhampur to Baramulla in addition to two hydroelectric projects. Though the Rs 2500 crore railway project is not a new one, it is being taken up as a national project and will be financed by the center the elections were on Gowda’s mind outside the House as well. Addressing the annual conference of Director Generals and Inspector Generals of the police, the Prime Minister assured all help to the security forces in fighting the “undeclared war” foisted on India. He said the people of the state will send a loud and clear message to the militants and their masters that their efforts to misguide them will no longer be successful.
The Government’s hurry in making the announcement stems from the fact that the Election Commission is to formally announce the schedule for the elections soon. Once that is done, the model code of conduct comes into force barring the government from coming out with announcements of programs or changes in policy. While Gowda’s statement led to an uproar in the Rajya Sabha with the BJP taking exception to its timing, the reaction was muted in the Lok Sabha. As soon as he finished with his statement, Congress whip Santosh Mohan Dev welcomed it. In the Rajya Sabha, BJP members led by Leader of the Opposition Sikander Bakht objected to the Prime Minister unveiling the economic package without revealing anything of it in cither the Railway or the general Budget. “The Prime Minister has not only violated democratic norms but also parliamentary norms. Though it is not a violation of the model code of conduct technically it certainly is a moral violation,” said a BJP member, Rajnath Singh.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 24, 1996
