Srinagar, May 21 :
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said that her party will continue to be part of INDIA bloc on its ideological basis.
“PDP supports INDI alliance on ideological basis as Rahul Gandhi is the only leader who is working to safeguard the Constitution”, Mehbooba told reporters in the Rajouri town.
She said that “PDP continues to be part of INDIA bloc on ideological basis and agrees with it on the need to safeguard the constitution”.
Mehbooba is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat which is going to polls on May 25.
Despite fielding her party candidates in Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seats against the National Conference, who is also a part of INDIA bloc, Mehbooba continues to support the bloc.
The NC has put up three candidates in Srinagar,
PDP supports INDI
Baramulla, and Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seats after reaching an agreement with the Congress, which has put up its candidates in Jammu, Udhampur, and Ladakh.
The PDP, however, was not given any seat and the party subsequently decided to fight elections against NC in the valley seats, while extending its support to Congress in the Jammu region.
“The Constitution is the foundation of our country and we need (to protect) it desperately as otherwise no rights will be left with us. They (BJP) not only want to change the Constitution but also finish the reservation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, notwithstanding what they are saying,” Mehbooba said.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that he never uttered a word against the minorities in his election rallies, she said, “he can take a U-turn because he is the Prime Minister … The reality is that BJP has fallen so low after feeling that their 400-plus seats target is not achievable and their Hindu-Muslim narrative has found no takers among the voters.”
The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said the Congress’s manifesto which talks about generating employment for youth and women empowerment, has frightened the BJP.
Without naming either the NC or the Appni Party, the PDP president alleged that an atmosphere of fear has been created in Rajouri by two parties, one of which has issued a ‘fatwa’ (decree) that hell awaits those who do not vote for a particular candidate, while the other is using official machinery to blackmail the voters.
“It is wrong to play ‘Peer-Mureed’ (spiritual leader and disciple), which is a noble relationship not driven by vote bank politics … Religion should not be brought into politics,” Mehbooba said, referring to Mian Altaf, who is revered by Gujjars as their spiritual leader.
Referring to the Apni Party, she said “it is taking cover behind the BJP to blackmail people and calling up officers and threatening them with transfers”.
“What I observed after meeting various delegations, one community (Gujjars) is afraid of the ‘fatwa’ politics, and the other (Pahari) community fears being harassed at the hands of the administration if it openly comes out in support of PDP”, the former CM said.
“The BJP knows very well that the parties it is backing will lose their deposit in Kashmir. Their only aim is to keep Mehbooba away from parliament,” she added.
The PDP President also said all developmental work being done by his father, Mufti Mohammed Syeed, during his tenure as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, is being done away with. “The standard of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University is falling with the induction of contractual professors, while the cross-LoC trade remains suspended from 2019.”
She said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent two-day visit to Kashmir has raised some concerns in the valley as people fear a repeat of 1987 when there was mass rigging to benefit a particular party.
“They are afraid of PDP because we are raising people’s issues. We have observed a slow pace in the PDP-dominated areas during voting in Srinagar Lok Sabha seat (took place on May 13). I also have reservations over some polling stations here (Rajouri),” she said.
Mehbooba alleged that the recent two terror attacks in south Kashmir were an attempt to create fear among the voters in Anantnag seat and to harm her party.
She said the record voter turnout in Srinagar and Baramulla seats should be seen as a message to New Delhi, and that says: “We are angry with your decisions and these are not acceptable to us.”
