Minutes after National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah questioned the capability of the PDP to win south Kashmir’s Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, party chief Mehbooba Mufti hit back saying that the harm that the BJP could not do to the INDIA bloc has been done by Omar, who is also an ally of the opposition alliance.
Interestingly, the NC and PDP are also the prominent members of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD).
“People of Jammu and Kashmir had great expectations from the PAGD and also the INDI Alliance but what Omar has said was a big setback for the people ”, Mufti said.
She said she was hurt and pained by NC’s decision of not sharing any Lok Sabha seat with the PDP. The NC has changed the goal post by taking the decision arbitrarily.
The PDP leader said she will talk to the Congress leadership in this regard and come up with a decision soon. “I am a fighter and wanted to unite to fight against the BJP that has turned J&K into a prison”, she added.
She said that the PAGD was formed to jointly struggle for the rights of people. ”It was an effort to send signals that we are united, but NC has made a mockery out of it.
“I am disappointed that earlier everything was decided in consultation among the PAGD members, but now they have arbitrarily decided to contest all three seats”, the PDP chief said.
She pointed out that the PDP had won all three Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir in 2014 and as such there was no justification in Abdullah refusing to share any of these seats on the plea that the NC was now representing these seats.
She said it was unfortunate that the unity among the PAGD constituents has been shattered.
It is worth mentioning that cracks had started appearing among the INDIA bloc when the parliamentary board of the NC recently decided that the party will contest all the three Lok Sabha seats of the Kashmir valley that it was currently representing.
However, the PDP was insisting for allocation of the Anantnag seat as it falls in the home town of Mehbooba Mufti.