JAMMU (TIP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 28 praised the record voter turnout in first phase of Jammu & Kashmir polls, calling it a victory for democracy irrespective of the outcome. He said militants were frustrated as democracy is still alive in the state despite their guns and bombs as he addressed two rallies in Udhampur and Poonch ahead of the second phase of polling next week. “The people of Jammu & Kashmir have shown that they are not going to be terrorized,” he said, a day after three civilians and as many soldiers were killed in a terror strike a few hundred kilometers away in Arnia.

Modi blamed the Congress, ruling National Conference and opposition People Democratic Party for lack of development and corruption in the state. “Give us one opportunity to end this loot. The development which has not taken place in last 30 years will happen in next five years if BJP is voted to power,” he said at his Udhampur rally. In Poonch, he promised to visit the remote area regularly, saying it took around 40 years for a Prime Minister to visit the place that is less than 24 hours from New Delhi.