The Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti asked the voters of the Union Territory on Monday to express their unhappiness over the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution through their votes in the ongoing Lok Sabha election.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, while addressing a roadside meeting in the Larkipora area of Anantnag district, said, "This is not an Assembly election. This is not about whether the PDP, the National Conference, or the Congress will win. This election is about sending a message that the decisions taken in 2019 and what followed are not acceptable to the people." She stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government abrogated the provisions of Article, which provided special rights to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories in August 2019.
Mehbooba said that while it was a tough time for Jammu and Kashmir in the past, the current time is also very difficult. "The people of Jammu and Kashmir have witnessed tough times in the past. Those did not last and neither will this (situation), but only if we fight it together through peaceful and democratic ways," she said. Further, Mufti said that people might have been upset with the PDP for some time, but they realise that the party has saved them from the task force, counter-insurgent Ikhwan group, and POTA.
Mehbooba Mufti contesting from Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat
"It was during the tenure of (former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Mehbooba Mufti's father) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed that a new era of development was started, a dialogue process was started between India and Pakistan and there seemed to be some movement on key issues," she said.
The PDP president is contesting the Lok Sabha election from the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, where polling is scheduled to be held on May 7. She is getting a tough fight from the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference’s influential Gujjar and Bakarwal leader Mian Altaf Ahmad Larvi. The BJP has not fielded its candidate from the constituency. Earlier Ghulam Nabi Azad, who formed his party Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), was poised to contest the seat but had withdrawn from the race on April 17 and fielded Mohammad Saleem Paray instead. Other candidates contesting the polls include Apni Party’s Zaffar Iqbal Manhas
(With PTI Inputs)
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