BJP to protest non-inclusion of Oct 26 as holiday: Nirmal Singh

The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) on Wednesday said it would lodge a “strong protest” over the decision of the state Government for not declaring October 26 as holiday.

Talking to media on sidelines of press conference here senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said the party would register strong protest with the Chief Minister for not conceding to its demand of declaring October 26, When Jammu and Kashmir “acceded” to Union of India, as holiday.

To a query that it was a major demand of BJP while in opposition, Singh said “It is still the same and we have decided to lodge strong protest over this issue with the Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. We are hopeful that the holiday will be declared on this historic day”.

On revocation of service tax on Vaishno Devi chopper service, Singh said, “The tax is not applicable for chopper service to Vaishno Devi. It is imposed for all religious shrines of the state”.

On claims of Lal Singh that he (Lal Singh) should be credited for the commissioning of first ever cable stayed bridge, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “In fact  Lal Singh is fighting for this demand for a long. We (BJP) faced lathicharge of Farooq Abdullah Government while holding protests on this issue, but as per me, no single person should be given sole credit. It is the people of this country who should be credited for this historic bridge”.

To another question about the persistent power mess in the summer capital, Singh said, “We have issued an order yesterday to ensure 24-hour power supply to the Kashmir.”