Politics

PDP re-elects Mehbooba Mufti as party president for fourth time

SRINAGAR — The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday re-elected Ms Mehbooba Mufti as the President of the party for the fourth time for the period of three years.

Mehbooba was elected through a voice vote, in which senior leaders of the party participated at the party headquarters in Srinagar.

The party’s general secretary Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura proposed the name of Mehbooba for the post of president, which was supported by former minister Abdul Gaffar Sofi.

While thanking the party leaders for reposing trust in her, Mehbooba Mufti claimed that the detractors of the PDP had only two things against her and her late father.

“Only criticism of Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) was that he went with the BJP for government formation. His decision has been proved right as BJP would have wreaked havoc in J&K if he had not reined them in.”

“The criticism against me is about my ‘toffee, milk’ remark (in 2016). I had said that as a mother. Had they listened to me, my daughter Insha would not have been blinded. She became a collateral in clashes between miscreants and security forces,” she said.

The former chief minister said her opponents have tried to find faults with her but have not found anything.

“So they will tell you about ‘toffee, milk’ statement. Let me tell you that social media trolls will not decide the future. It is the people who have got relief during our tenure in power,” she said.

Mehbooba said today is accession day, which marks accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India.

“I want to tell them that we had acceded to the idea of India where our identity will be protected. You have weakened that accession. You will realise this in time to come. I also want to say that you will have to return everything taken from us with interest, starting from what was snatched on August 5, 2019,” she said.

In August 2019, the Government of India abrogated Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state into union territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. — (PTI)