(8 Dec 2014) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed an election campaign rally in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Monday, promising that his party would bring development to Kashmir.
Modi was in Kashmir for the third time in a month, hoping to help his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party win a first-ever majority in India's only Muslim-majority state, where rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.
Pro-India Kashmiri parties promise to boost development and infrastructure if they win, while separatists say the polls are an illegitimate exercise under a military occupation that dates back to India's independence in 1947.
Referring to former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi said that he wants to fulfil Vajpayee's dream of seeing Kashmir "rise with glory on the horizon of the 21st century."
He criticised work done by previous state governments in Kashmir over the last 30 years.
"We have achieved nothing through those ways. Now, I am telling you to shun those ways, now there is only one path that will benefit us, and that is development."
The region was on high alert in Srinagar on Monday with paramilitary snipers on rooftops, road barricades and sniffer dogs near rally sites.
A daytime curfew was imposed in some parts of the city barring residents from leaving their homes, and shutting down shops and businesses.
Officials said they were taking no risks with Modi in the fractious region before a third day of voting is held on Tuesday.
The elections are being held in five stages to allow government forces to better guard against any violence or anti-India protests.
Results are due on December 23.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
