National Conference president Farooq Abdullah Sunday said the Lok Sabha elections are significant since this time the country is fighting a decisive battle against the Modi government.
He said the people of the country have suffered in the last five years due to the "imprudent and ill-conceived" policies of the BJP government.
"Farmers, unemployed youth, artisans, minorities, everyone has been at the receiving end. Every vital sector is in shambles. People across the country are beseeching for respite from this BJP government. Whatever PM Modi had promised to the people during his 2014 election campaign turned out to be a damp squib," Abdullah said in a series of election rallies here.
He said the farmers are distressed in most parts of the country while the petrol prices have skyrocketed in the last five years.
"The claims of Modi on providing jobs turned out to be a mere slogan. The prices of commodities are soaring. Perhaps the biggest ever failure of this government is its sheer failure to control the prices of petroleum products, including cooking gas," the NC leader said.
The former chief minister said the development scenario in Jammu and Kashmir also presents a grim situation.
"Our state has been at the receiving end all long since Modi came to power. No effort was made to bring Kashmir on the railway map of India. The railway stretch connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country was supposed to be completed by 2014. Unfortunately, the deadline has been extended to 2022.
"Not just that, the work on 30-mile stretch of Banihal and Ramban on J&K national highway is still impending completion. On the other side we see China making fast strides towards connecting its countryside with effective road and rail connectivity," he said.
Abdullah said the idea of India is facing a "threat from communal forces who were responsible for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi".
"The very constitutional rights were infringed upon since the BJP took the reins of power. We were told what to eat and what not to eat. The minorities throughout the country suffered immensely at the hands of cow vigilantes.
Hundreds of poor cattle traders were attacked upon and intimidated. A message was sent that India belongs to the adherents of a particular faith.
"Today opportunity is tapping our door; these parliamentary elections afford us an opportunity to clean the state and the country from the communal yolk. We should avail this opportunity and give the BJP and its cronies a befitting reply for all the wrongs it committed and for lying to the nation," he said.
