National Conference (NC) President Dr Farooq Abdullah, on Thursday, said that the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of five political parties, was intact and final decision on the NC contesting all 90 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir will be taken when the elections are declared.
Dr Abdullah’s statement came a day after the provincial committee of the NC that met under the chairmanship of party’s vice-president Omar Abdullah resolved to contest all 90 seats without any alliance with other constituents of the PAGD that was formed to seek the restoration of Article 370.
Dr Abdullah, while replying to questions of media persons in Srinagar, said that there were no differences that could lead to breaking up of the PAGD. Replying to a question about the resolution passed yesterday by the provincial committee of the NC that the party would on its own contest all 90 Assembly seats during the elections, he said, “Many would want an end to the PAGD, but the alliance will not be affected.”
“Ours is a democratic party and its leaders can pass resolutions, but whatever happens when the elections are declared will depend on the situation at that time. People need both patience and tolerance and unless these two things are there, no alliance can succeed,” he added.
At the provincial committee meeting chaired by Omar Abdullah, the participants expressed dismay over the recent statements, audio jingles and speeches made by some of the constituents of the PAGD targeting the NC, the party statement had said. PDP and other constituents of the PAGD have downplayed the NC resolution, saying that it would not affect the unity of the amalgam.
“PAGD was conceived for a much larger cause than just an electoral alliance. If some constituent of the Alliance has reservations for any kind of electoral alliance, that will not impact our unity for the larger goal,” chief spokesman of the PDP Syed Suhail Bukhari tweeted.
Targeting the PAGD, Srinagar’s Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu tweeted: “Meanwhile the forced marriage that the PAGD always was is now apparently a marriage of convenience. An open relationship of sorts.” “Ideologically” allied but electorally opposed? The race for power trumps the race for the “cause.”