PoK citizens burning Pakistani national flag during a protest rally in Muzaffarabad

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday asked the residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to come and join India as "we consider you as our own unlike Pakistan which treats you as foreigners". Addressing an election rally in the Ramban assembly constituency in support of BJP candidate Rakesh Singh Thakur, the Union minister came down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370 and said it is impossible as long as the BJP is there.

He welcomed the "sea change" in the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, and said youths now carry laptops and computers instead of pistols and revolvers.

"Support the BJP to form the next government in J-K so that we can facilitate massive development in the region. There will be so much development that the people in PoK on seeing this should say that we do not want to live with Pakistan and instead will go to India," the defence minister said.

He said that recently an affidavit was filed by the additional solicitor general in the neighbouring country stating that PoK is a foreign land.

"I want to tell PoK residents that Pakistan is considering you foreigner but the people in India do no consider you as such. We consider you as our own and so come and join us," he said.

The defence minister's visit as a star campaigner of the BJP comes a day after Home Minister Amit Shah's two-day tour during which he released the party's manifesto, held a series of meetings with senior party leaders and also addressed a workers' rally.

In the Ramban constituency, the BJP's Thakur is up against the NC's Arjun Singh Raju and party's rebel Suraj Singh Parihar.

The seat was last won by the BJP's Neelam Kumar Langeh who was denied a ticket by the party this time.

Singh is also scheduled to visit adjoining Banihal constituency to seek votes for party candidate Mohd Saleem Bhat who is pitted against former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president and ex-minister Vikar Rasool Wani.

Wani is looking for a hat-trick of wins from the Banihal seat. He faced a major challenge from the National Conference's Sjjad Shaheen and the PDP's Imtiyaz Shan.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a massive rally in his support in Sangaldan area on September 4.

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