Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 19: Ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today unveiled the party’s manifesto saying that the post-2019 situation is unacceptable to her party and she will raise people’s voice in Parliament.
“Today, we release our manifesto in light of the prevailing circumstances in Jammu and Kashmir,” she said.
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Mufti said that J&K is facing multiple challenges at present and her party will try to raise the issues. “Our domicile laws have been altered, our resources exploited, and our land usurped,” she said.
She alleged that the youth here are being unfairly detained and without trial are languishing in jails. “Post 2019 Jammu and Kashmir has been turned into open air prison. Our resources, jobs, lands are being taken away from us. We are duty bound to highlight the agonies of people in the parliament,” she said.
The PDP president said that instead of giving jobs, there are recruitment scams coming to the fore. “Our traders and transporters are being hounded through ED, Income tax and NIA raids. People are being viewed with suspicion,” she added.
She said that people are being given a sense of defeat so that they do not raise their voices and feel dejected and defeated. “PDP raised the voice even when 2019 turmoil happened. We paid the price- our workers were harassed, our party broken and even my family was not spared,” she said.
The PDP manifesto focuses on youth empowerment and infrastructure development, with plans to allocate MPLAD funds for education, skill centers, and basic amenities in remote areas. It also addresses regional disparities by expanding constituencies and prioritizing projects like the Mughal Road and Sadhna road Tunnels.
Moreover, the manifesto highlighted the imperative of addressing regional disparities, with a focus on enhancing connectivity and accessibility in marginalized constituencies such as Rajouri and Poonch. “The expansion of Anantnag constituencies to include Rajouri and Poonch was done without compunction. The bad weather often shuts down the road. Construction of Mughal Road Tunnel and Sadhna Tunnel will be our top priority,” said added.
She said that the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities are being displaced, and horticulture is suffering due to decisions made by authorities.