PM Modi invokes Atal Bihari, talks about development and peace in Srinagar

Srinagar: He came to the Valley wearing a traditional pheran and said he was there to take forward former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's dream of "Kashmiriyat, insaaniyat (humanity) and jamhooriyat (democracy). The modest crowd that assembled at the venue to see and hear PM Narendra Modi amid heavy security didn't seemed altogether convinced after a 30-minute speech that skipped standard fare such as Article 370 and Pakistan.

"Vajpayee-ji made a great beginning," Modi told the crowd assembled at the flood-ravaged Sher-e-Kashmir stadium. "I am duty bound to realize that dream and move ahead within the ambit of insaaniyat, Kashmiriyat and jamhooriyat," he said.

Modi emphasized that the BJP is in the Valley with the promise of shifting the debate to development from issues that had traditionally held the state back. "21st century Kashmir deserves better," he said, adding that it's time to get rid of the father-son (a reference to Farooq and Omar Abdullah of the National Conference) and father-daughter (PDP's Mufti Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti) school of politics.

In a departure from the usual belligerence of the BJP when it comes to the Kashmir Valley, Modi pointed out that after two youth were killed by mistake by the soldiers, it was on his orders that the army initiated a commission and the case was investigated. "This is what the Modi sarkar does and nothing of this sort has happened in the last 30 years," he said. "Give me a chance to serve you; I will deliver justice to you," was the pitch.