‘NC-Cong alliance not based on principles’
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 8: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) knows people are unhappy with the abrogation of Article 370 and will “punish them through the ballot.”
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Mufti made these remarks during an election rally in the Kokernag Assembly segment of Anantnag district, in response to BJP leaders targeting the PDP. “The BJP knows what they did in Jammu and Kashmir for the last five years ago. People are very angry. They want to use the ballot to respond. That is why the BJP can say whatever they want,” she added.
She also criticized the National Conference (NC)-Congress alliance for the 2024 Assembly elections, calling it a partnership based on power-sharing, not principles. “If it were based on principles, Kokernag would have been a Congress seat. The NC left the seat for Congress but still fielded its own candidate as an Independent,” she said.
Mufti added that if her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, had not founded the PDP, the NC would still be operating in an “authoritarian” manner. “If the vote is respected today, it is because of the PDP. The NC would still be following its authoritarian ways, leaving people frustrated,” she said. Click here to watch video
Highlighting the PDP’s contributions, the PDP Chief said that under her father’s vision, the party accomplished more in its short tenure than the NC did in its 40-45 years of rule. “In South Kashmir, we laid the foundation for universities, colleges, AIIMS, medical institutions and roads. We worked for the oppressed who suffered under POTA, the Task Force, Ikhwan and the Army,” she said.
Mufti also commented on the history of the Congress-NC alliance, saying that it only came about after her father made the Congress a viable political force in the Valley. She recounted how Congress workers once faced social boycotts, with their daughters being divorced and barbers refusing to provide services, but under Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s leadership, the party challenged the corruption of the NC.
“When Farooq Abdullah realized Congress was becoming a viable alternative, he absorbed them into the NC through an alliance. Since then, Congress has struggled to emerge from NC’s shadow,” she said.
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