Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Nitin Nabin has said Jammu and Kashmir has undergone a “remarkable transformation” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
Nabin, who is on his first trip to Jammu and Kashmir as BJP chief, asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A brought “real freedom” to the people in the region, fulfilling Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s vision.
Addressing a party function in Jammu to mark the 125th birth anniversary of BJP ideologue Mookerjee, Nabin said those who fail to recognise the changes in Jammu and Kashmir “have lost the ability to see with an open mind.”
“People often ask what has changed in Jammu and Kashmir. I say that a great deal has changed. Only those who have lost the ability to see with an open mind fail to recognise the transformation in today’s India”, he said while taking a dig at Congress.
Recalling the 2011 ‘Rashtriya Ekta Yatra’, Nabin said he was part of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha team that travelled to Kashmir to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk.
“I remember 2011, and then 2014, when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. The very Lal Chowk in Srinagar, which once symbolised uncertainty, is now proudly adorned with the Tricolour. That is the change that has taken place in Jammu and Kashmir”, he added.
Nabin alleged that the then Congress-led governments at the Centre and in J&K had imposed a curfew to prevent BJP workers from hoisting the Tricolour and that party workers had to secretly transport the national flag hidden inside bundles of newspapers printed in Jammu.
He also alleged that officials had at that time claimed that hoisting the Tricolour in the Valley would disturb peace.
“That was the period when the Congress was in power at the Centre. We saw the Pakistani flag flying there, while the government in New Delhi remained silent,” Nabin said.
The BJP chief said the Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A fulfilled Mookerjee’s long-standing dream of complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country.
“When Prime Minister Narendra Modi abrogated Article 370 and Article 35A in 2019, I believe the people of Jammu and Kashmir received real freedom. The dream envisioned by Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee was fulfilled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For every Bharatiya Janata Party worker, it was the fulfilment of a long-cherished resolve”, he said.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee was an eminent Indian politician, barrister, and Hindutva activist who served as Independent India’s first Minister for Industry and Supply under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Mookerjee is globally recognized as the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (established in 1951), the ideological predecessor to the modern-day Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mookerjee died of a heart attack on 23 June 1953 while in the medical custody of the Jammu and Kashmir police in Srinagar. However, the exact nature of his passing remains a subject of intense historical debate, with his family and political successors alleging a conspiracy or severe medical negligence. The BJP calls him a martyr.
In a separate event on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the abrogation of Article 370 had fulfilled the dream of Mookerjee, who had opposed the special status given to the erstwhile state.
Addressing a commemorative programme through a video message, Modi described Mookerjee as a visionary, patriot and champion of national unity, and drew a direct ideological link between the Jana Sangh founder’s political struggles and several of the BJP’s signature policy decisions, including the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
“By abrogating Article 370, we have fulfilled the dream of Syama Prasad Mookerjee,” Modi said.
The Articke 370 of Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated in August 2019.
In his Jammu address, Nabin said the party’s organisational strength had expanded across the country, including in West Bengal, the birthplace of Mookerjee, despite allegations that the BJP was an “outsider’s party”.
Ranji Trophy champions
Claiming that J&K had witnessed a major socio-political transformation after 2014, Nabin said the region’s youth, once associated with stone-pelting, were now earning recognition through achievements in sports.
“Had the BJP not been in power at the Centre, J&K youth would still have been known as stone-pelters rather than as Ranji Trophy champions,” he said, crediting the Modi government with promoting sports, peace and opportunities for young people.
In February, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) clinched their maiden Ranji Trophy title in the historic 2025-26 season. They defeated eight-time champions Karnataka in the final at the KSCA Cricket Stadium in Hubballi, securing the championship based on a massive first-innings lead
Nabin said Article 370 failed to benefit the people of Jammu and Kashmir and hindered the region’s development.
Under the Modi government, he said, J&K emerged as a leading region on the path of development. He said the Centre was committed to ensuring that development reached the last person and asserted that the transformation witnessed in J&K was similar to the development taking place in the northeastern states under the Modi government.
Describing Mookerjee’s legacy as one of development, trust and inclusive progress, Nabin said the BJP government was guided by the principles of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas”. Reiterating the party’s stand on J&K, he said J&K is an integral part of India and ruled out any restoration of the pre-2019 constitutional arrangement.
He also said the Centre remained committed to the security, development and preservation of Jammu and Kashmir’s heritage.
Nabin said the revival of tourism in the valley had generated employment opportunities and strengthened the local economy, attributing it to the improved security situation. Calling upon party workers to intensify their efforts, he said the BJP would continue working towards the goals of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’, Antyoday and good governance, with the vision of building a “Developed India” by 2047.