Srinagar: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on April 18 said the Centre will work in tandem with the new government in Jammu and Kashmir for the state's development and root out unemployment there.

Addressing a mammoth public meeting at the Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium in Srinagar, the first by a Prime Minister in Srinagar in the last 15 years, Vajpayee said, "We, sitting in New Delhi, are concerned about Jammu and Kashmir".

He hoped the Kashmiri New Year, 'Navroz', would usher in peace, prosperity and brotherhood.

Taking full credit for holding free and fair polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Vajpayee congratulated the people of the state for exercising their democratic right "at grave risk to their lives and even daring death".

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"It (elections) is a sacred right which can change your destiny and if it falls into wrong hands, it can lead to destruction," he said adding "we should remember that after ages, through the democratic process we have got the opportunity to decide our fate."

He said people had ridiculed him when he announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort that free and fair polls would be held in Jammu and Kashmir and a popular government would be installed in the state.

"They asked which world am I living in as here votes that are cast are not counted and even if they are counted, they are not credited to the right party," Vajpayee said.

Referring to the celebration of 'Navroz' by the people in the state, Mahavir Jayanti by Hindus and observance of Good Friday by Christians, he said, "Only in India do you find people worshipping in their own way and helping each other."

PTI