Former PDP leader Surinder Choudhary on Tuesday joined the BJP along with his supporters and accused Mehbooba Mufti of ruining the party and pursuing the Pakistani agenda. Choudhary and his supporters were welcomed into the BJP by the party's National General Secretary and in charge of Jammu and Kashmir Tarun Chugh.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina and other prominent leaders including former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta and Devender Singh Rana, who left the National Conference last year. "I have not betrayed the PDP but it was the PDP which betrayed me," Choudhary, a former MLC told reporters after joining BJP at its headquarters here.
Choudhary said he has not joined BJP for any personal benefit, or under any fear or pressure. "I am joining the party because of its policies, love and respect and to strengthen the nation... we will work to ensure that the BJP forms the next government in Jammu and Kashmir." Hitting out at PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, he said, "Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was a secular leader while the Mehbooba-led party has not been secular and was pursuing Pakistani agenda."
"Mehbooba Mufti speaks one thing while in power and another out of power. She has ruined the party and stands exposed before the public," Choudhary said. Those who joined the BJP along with Choudhary included block development council chairman Bodh Raj, National Conference leaders S Gupta and Desh Roop Raina and dozens of panches and sarpanches.
The Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief, Chugh, welcomed social activist Bharat Bushan and his supporters into the party fold. He said, "Choudhary was the face of PDP in Jammu and his joining the BJP has finished the party (PDP) in the region. The National Conference has already lost its face in Jammu when Rana left the party last year and joined the BJP." Chugh claimed the people in the Jammu region have decided not to support the NC and the PDP parties which are "misleading" them with "false promises and dreams".
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