Jammu, Dec 9 (PTI) Campaigning for BJP candidates for the ongoing Jammu and Kashmir DDC polls in villages along the International Border, Union minister V K Singh praised the people for their role in securing the country's border.

"The people living in the border areas are working as soldiers on the border and they also continuously boost the morale of the soldiers," Singh, a former chief of the Indian Army, told a rally in R S Pura.

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He campaigned for the BJP candidates for the District Development Council (DDC) election in the border villages of Kotli Raiyan and Suchetgarh in R S Pura.

He said that the central government fulfilled an old demand of the people by removing Section 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, which opened up new avenues of development.

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Singh said the people should also teach the opposition leaders who have formed the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration a lesson in these elections.

"...such a lesson that they should not think of contesting elections in future," he said.

Today, constant steps are being taken by the Modi government at the Centre for the betterment and development of the border people, he said.

The government took many historic decisions for Jammu and Kashmir which the previous governments could not take in 70 years, said Singh.

Singh said the decision to hold the DDC election for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir was "historic".

Singh said Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state, was abrogated for the greater good as it was an obstacle in development.

The minister appealed to the people to vote for BJP candidates.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)