The Congress on Friday described the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line as an example of continuity in governance, which it claimed had not been acknowledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “perennial desire for self-glory”.

This statement came ahead of Modi inaugurating the Chenab Bridge on Friday. The world’s highest railway arch bridge is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link.

In a social media post, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said governance involves “great continuity”, a fact he claimed is “consistently denied” by the prime minister.

“This is especially true when it comes to the implementation of extraordinarily challenging developmental projects,” he added.

The 272-km railway project, cutting through the Himalayas, was sanctioned in March 1995 when the Congress’ PV Narasimha Rao was the prime minister, Ramesh said. It was declared a national project in 2002 by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he added.

Ramesh also listed a series of rail link inaugurations carried out by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh between 2005 to 2013 during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, including stretches between Jammu-Udhampur, Anantnag-Mazhom, Mazhom-Baramulla, Anantnag-Qazigund and Qazigund-Banihal.

“This meant that by June 26, 2013 the 135 km rail link between Baramulla and Qazigund had become operational,” Ramesh said.

Since 2014, the 111-km Katra-Banihal stretch has been completed, though most of the key contracts, including for the Chenab Bridge, were awarded as early as 2005, the Congress leader added.

Lieutenant governor got promoted, I got demoted: CM Omar Abdullah

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday raised the issue of restoring statehood to the Union Territory in the presence of Modi at the inauguration ceremony of several development projects, including the Chenab Bridge and the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat Express.

“The same four people were present here in 2014 when the Katra railway station was inaugurated,” Abdullah said. “While the then Minister of State for Railway, Manoj Sinha, got promoted to the post of Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor, I got demoted from chief minister of a state to chief minister of a Union Territory.”

The chief minister added that he believed that Jammu and Kashmir will “again get the statehood under your [Modi’s] watch only”.

The BJP-led Centre had abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state, in August 2019. It also bifurcated the state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

In December 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the 2019 order abrogating Article 370 and ordered the Centre to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

The National Conference-Congress alliance won the Assembly polls in the Union Territory in October and Abdullah became the chief minister. The elections were the first in Jammu and Kashmir in 10 years, and the first since the abrogation of Article 370.

Also read: Why Jammu is not cheering new rail line ‘integrating’ Kashmir with Delhi