Youth of Jammu rallying behind Omar Abdullah: Rattan Lal
Says BJP’s “deceit, jumlas and betrayal,” driving youth towards NC.
17/05/2026
Jammu, May 17 (KIP)- The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Provincial President Ratan Lal Gupta on Sunday said that angered by the BJP’s “deceit, jumlas and betrayal,” the youth of Jammu and Kashmir are joining the National Conference in droves.
He was addressing a joining programme at SK Bhawan, Jammu, Chaired by Sardar Gurnam Singh District Secretary Jammu Urban and attended by Sheikh Bashir Ahmad Provincial Secretary Jammu, Vijay Lochan Chairman SC Cell, Subash Chander Bhagat District President Jammu Rural "A", Rakesh Singh Raka Vice President Central Zone, Laxmi Datta Senior leader, Sewak Singh Vice President District Jammu Urban where dozens of young people from different walks of life joined the National Conference fold.
Welcoming the new entrants, Gupta said the youth of Jammu are the biggest witnesses to the “failure and betrayal” of the BJP during the past eleven years. “No one can judge the difference between the pre-2024 and post-2024 era better than the youth. They have suffered unemployment, uncertainty and systematic neglect under BJP rule,” he said.
Gupta alleged that despite making tall promises of employment and development, the BJP pushed the youth to the wall by failing to create dignified job opportunities. “Recruitment drives dried up, government departments remained understaffed, and even the Army recruitment process became irregular and uncertain for lakhs of aspirants. Instead of empowering local youth, jobs were outsourced and local businesses weakened,” he said.
He said Jammu’s traders, transporters, contractors and small businessmen were sidelined while large corporate interests were given preferential treatment. “From mining contracts to public works, outsiders were encouraged while locals were left struggling for survival. BJP’s economic model has crushed the aspirations of Jammu’s youth and middle class,” Gupta added.
The NC leader further said that almost every major recruitment examination conducted during BJP’s direct rule in Jammu and Kashmir became controversial. “Paper leaks, scams and corruption shattered the faith of educated unemployed youth. Merit was mocked while deserving candidates were forced into despair. The recent national examination scandals have once again exposed the rotten system functioning under BJP’s watch,” he said.
Launching a sharp attack on the BJP, Gupta said the party survives only by creating divisions among people. “BJP has no vision for employment, no roadmap for economic growth and no serious policy framework for youth empowerment, in the country. If the BJP truly had a development model, the country would not be witnessing record unemployment, closure of MSMEs, rising inflation and deep economic distress after a decade of its rule,” he said.
On this occasion dozens of young people Joined National Conference. The names are Kewal Sharma, Aryaman Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Jewan Sharma, Ashok Kapoor, Rakesh Singh, Rajat Dogra, Sunil Singh, Karan Singh, Abid Khan, Mohit Kumar, Ankush Magotra, Nitin Singh, Devinder Singh, Jat Verma, Sanjeev Verma and Ranvir Singh.