Union minister and senior BJP leader Jitendra Singh today said the absence of peace in the Valley was a "cumulative outcome" of nearly half a century of "misrule" of the Congress.
He also lashed out at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "destroyed" the People's Democratic Party by making an alliancewith it.
"Whatever he (Rahul Gandhi)has said doesn't reflect the popular sentiments of thepeople of Jammu and Kashmir or people of India at large. In fact, it's the Congress which has been over the years making opportunistic alliances alternately with one or the other regional party in Kashmir," he added.
Singh said the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the state has taken up the "herculean task" of restoring normalcy in the state.
"The absence of peace in the Valley was a cumulative outcome of nearly half a century of misrule of the Congress party," he told reporters here.
He said the youth of the state are very keen on joining thepath of development led by PM Modi.
"Look at thestatistics we have. So many toppers from the militancy-affectedareas. They know that their future lies with this caravan ledby Modi and they don't want to miss out on these opportunities," he added.
Addressing students at the University of California, Berkeley, US, Gandhi had earlier said that when Congress-led UPA was in power, he worked with former prime minister Manmohan Singh and senior leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh to address the issues facing Jammu and Kashmir.
"By 2013, we basically broke the back of terror. I hugged the then prime minister Manmohan Singh and told him it was one of the biggest achievements," he added.
He further said the PDP had been instrumental in bringing youngsters in politics, but the day Prime Minister Modi made alliance with the PDP, he "destroyed" it.
"So he (PM Modi) massively opened up the space for the terrorists in Kashmir, and you saw the increase in violence," he added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)