SRINAGAR — “Mehbooba Mufti would have supported the NC on all three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir if Farooq Abdullah or Omar Abdullah had consulted her before announcing their decision to contest,” senior PDP leader Waheed ur Rehman Para said on Thursday, according to PTI.
Mufti, the president of the PDP, on March 8 expressed unhappiness over the National Conference contesting all three Lok Sabha constituencies in Kashmir, saying the decision was “disappointing” and a “setback to the hopes of the people of J&K”, as reported by PTI.
She also accused the NC of reducing their Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to a “joke”, PTI mentioned.
“If Farooq Abdullah or Omar Abdullah had told Mehbooba ji to give all these seats to them, as far as I know, she would have done it,” Para told reporters in Pulwama.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) youth president said while the PAGD alliance had been working for five years, the NC leaders were now making “arrogant statements” about being the number one party, as mentioned by PTI.
“For five years, they kept this alliance for DDC polls, corporation elections and many other issues. When it was time to keep people united, they decided to divide people. And their arrogance in stating that our party is nowhere, we have no vote share,” he said.
Para said the National Conference had won the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Kashmir due to a situation of boycott.
“They won in a situation of boycott (in 2019) and now claim that the NC is the number one party and the PDP is nowhere on the ground. I think the people of Jammu and Kashmir keep an eye on every statement and every leader and they will decide like they did in 2002,” he added, reported PTI.
Hitting out at the NC MPs, Parra asked what they achieved during their five-year tenure in the Lok Sabha.
“As far as PDP is concerned, we are for unity and our intentions were sincere. They had three MPs in the Lok Sabha. What did they do? What issues did they raise? When the state land eviction drive was on, it was Mehbooba Mufti who protested outside the Parliament. Even when ED summons Farooq Abdullah, it is Mehbooba Mufti who raises her voice,” he said.