PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti announced that they will pitch their candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in J&K…reports Asian Lite News
In another jolt to the fledgling INDIA bloc, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Mehbooba Mufti announced on Wednesday that they will pitch their candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The development came after National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said that they would be contesting elections for all three seats in Kashmir. “In Mumbai, I said, Farooq Abdullah is our best representative and he will take the call. Omar Abdullah should have discussed the same with me for greater interest, we were not going to fight over parliamentary elections,” Mufti told reporters in Srinagar. “But the way Omar Abdullah said, PDP doesn’t exist and is nowhere, hurt us. The BJP broke my party completely but Omar’s statement made my workers disappointed.
Now my workers are calling me and telling me that we should also pitch our candidates,” Mufti said. “I’m disappointed with what Omar Abdullah said about the PDP,” she added. The former CM further confirmed that her party would now enter the contest on its own. “All the agencies are after my workers, so I felt my workers were humiliated by Omar Abdullah’s statement,” the former Chief Minister alleged. “We will pitch our candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,” Mufti told reporters. Reacting to this, Omar Abdullah said, “…If she (PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti) has announced to field candidates for all 5 seats, it is her choice. We have fielded candidates for 3 seats in Kashmir based on her formula…” “If she is fielding her own candidates, then perhaps she does not want any kind of alliance even for the assembly elections. We kept the door open; now if she has closed the door, then it is not our fault.,” he added. The National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party are partners in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance formed to challenge the BJP in the general elections The two regional parties are two important constituents of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, formed to restore special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The Lok Sabha polls in the Union Territory will be held in the first five phases on April 19 (Udhampur), April 26 (Jammu), May 7 (Anantnag-Rajouri), May 13 (Srinagar) and May 20 (Baramulla). The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4. (ANI)
Azad promises to fight for J&K statehood
Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is contesting from the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, said that his first battle in the Lok Sabha would be to raise the issue of the reinstatement of the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking to ANI, the former Congress leader said, “Initially, I had no intentions to contest. But all our colleagues–be it from South Kashmir or Pir Panjal–said that if we have to contest to win, I will have to contest. There is something in my heart.”
He mentioned that assembly elections were held here 10 years ago in the Union Territory.
Referring to the recent Supreme Court order directing the Election Commission of India to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, he said, “…No one knows what would happen by September…”
“The biggest issue is that we are without statehood. We are a Union Territory. I fought in the Rajya Sabha when Article 370 was abrogated. I want to fight in Lok Sabha too for statehood…We will demand full statehood where there would be a Governor…My first battle in Lok Sabha would be for the reinstatement of statehood…,” he said.
Notably, Ghulam Nabi Azad will be fighting the Lok Sabha polls for the first time after his loss in the 2014 General Elections from Udhampur seat.
In the 2014 elections, Jitendra Singh from the BJP gathered 46.8 per cent of votes on the Udhampur seat while Ghulam Nabi Azad who fought on the Congress ticket gathered 40.9 per cent.
The Lok Sabha polls in the Union Territory will be held in the first five phases on April 19 (Udhampur), April 26 (Jammu), May 7 (Anantnag-Rajouri), May 13 (Srinagar) and May 20 (Baramulla).
The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4. (ANI)