“I was 23 years old when my family faced terror. We were told at home that my uncle has fallen. For hours, I didn’t move, I just sat there. I have no idea how I reached the hospital. All I recall is that my father’s body had turned cold when I touched him,” Shagun Parihar told CNN-News18, fighting to hold back her tears.
Parihar has emerged as the poster girl for Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign against terrorism in Jammu Division. Her father – Ajit Parihar and uncle – Anil, associated with the BJP Kishtwar unit were gunned down by alleged terrorists in 2018 ahead of the panchayat polls.
Parihar said she had no plans of joining politics. “I was preparing for my PHD when I got a call from party leadership that I have to fight elections. I haven’t looked back since,” one of the youngest candidates in this election told CNN-News18. Parihar shot to national prominence after Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned for her at his Doda rally. Home Minister Amit Shah and former union minister Anurag Thakur, too, have thrown their complete weight behind the Kishtwar candidate.
Parihar is contesting against two-time Kishtwar MLA from National Conference Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo. Kichloo is a former Minister of State for Home.
Here are edited excerpts from Shagun Parihar’s interview with CNN-News18:
Q: How are you assessing your debut election?
Shagun Parihar: When I am going to the voters, they are treating me as their own daughter. My father must have done a lot that I am being showered with so much love.
Q: You are taking on a veteran. What is it that Parihar is bringing to the table against Kichloo?
Shagun Parihar: We have to ensure security and communal harmony. In rural Kishtwar, as I campaign, I realise no roads have been built, higher secondary schools have not built. National Conference could have given this much to people, no? These are basic needs. But they did nothing even after being in power for so many decades.
Q: When you speak of security, Kishtwar has seen an encounter just 4 days ago where two Army men were martyred. These questions are being asked of BJP.
Shagun Parihar: Security related questions being asked of BJP have one answer that the lamp of terrorism is flickering. Terrorism is in its last leg now. And we all know that before the lamp is extinguished, it tries to burn brightly. The rule of National Conference in the past is the reason for current terror scenario. Look at Omar Abdullah’s comments about Afzal Guru. Was he in power for common people or for terrorists like Guru that his heart bleeds so much for them? He doesn’t care about the Gujjar children, their school and college education. He talks about taking away reservation of Gujjars and releasing terrorists. He has never cared for the common people of Jammu and Kashmir. He has only done politics to save his chair.
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