Not allowing us to enter J&K showed situation not normal: Raja

A day after he and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury were sent back from the Srinagar airport, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja on Saturday said the government's action showed that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was not normal.

Addressing party workers here, Raja also asked them to help with relief work in western Maharashtra which is reeling under massive floods.

"Yesterday, we tried to go to Jammu and Kashmir, but we were not allowed to get out of the airport....it shows the situation is not normal there (after the abrogation of Article 370)," he said.

The Left leaders had gone to Srinagar to meet CPI(M) leader Md Tarigami and other party colleagues.

Referring to the NDA government's claim that special status of Jammu and Kashmir was withdrawn for the sake of its development, Raja asked if other parts of the country were any better off.

"The economy is in bad shape. Two crore jobs a year was promised, but nothing happened. Nothing happened on the