Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The People's Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday April 3 said that the NC had left no option for the party but to contest the parliamentary elections in Kashmir adding the party will announce its candidates in the coming days. Mufti made the announcement in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
The announcement by the PDP to go solo in the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2024 has effectively broken the INDIA opposition bloc in the region. Mehbooba Mufti said that in the Mumbai meeting of the INDIA bloc, she had given an opinion that NC President Farooq Abdullah would decide on the candidates for the parliamentary elections, “but the way Omar Abdullah humiliated the PDP was sad and pushed our party too far”.
She said that Omar Abdullah “disrespecting PDP has hurt our workers a lot and they have put pressure on me to announce candidates and fight elections on our own”.
Mehbooba said that “the way National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah made rhetoric about PDP, PDP had no choice but to participate in the party elections”. “If Farooq sahib or Omar had called the PDP leadership and said that they will contest the elections on the three seats, then the PDP would not have any objection, but the way they humiliated the PDP, the workers were disappointed,” she added.
She said that Omar Abdullah's “tone was harsh against the PDP which was unfortunate and it created a lot of confusion in the PDP”.
Mehbooba Mufti hinted that PDP will contest elections from Anantnag-Rajouri and Srinagar seats in Kashmir adding that the party leadership will hold deliberations with regard to Baramulla seat.
PDP sources said that Mehbooba Mufti will contest from Anantnag-Rajouri while PDP Youth President Waheed Para will be the party candidate from Srinagar, while from Baramulla it is likely that the party is considering supporting jailed leader Engineer Rasheed.
Mehbooba Mufti said that the party is not contesting the elections on the two seats of Jammu, but consultations are being held on contesting the elections on the three seats of Kashmir and within the next two days, the party's parliamentary board will announce the candidates.
It is worth noting that the National Conference has nominated senior Gujjar leader Mian Altaf as candidate for Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat, while Ghulam Nabi Azad heading the DPAP will also contest elections from this constituency. The BJP has not announced the candidate for the seat so far.
