Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, during an interview with news agency PTI, said she would not fight the Assembly elections until the Government of India restores Article 370. "I am never going to fight assembly elections as long as Article 370 is not restored. It's more of an emotional issue for me," she told the news agency.
"Whenever I took an oath as a member assembly it was under two constitutions, J&K Constitution and Constitution of India, with two flags at the same time," she added. “Maybe it's very foolish on my part but it's more of an emotional issue,” she said. However, she did not declare any prospect of fighting the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. “Parliament I don't know.”
Notably, the government in August 2019 revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. According to the Central government, the step was crucial in order to end terrorism and restore peace in the valley.
Mufti welcomes Mata Sharda mandir inauguration in Kupwara
Earlier today, she welcomed the move to open the Sharda Devi Temple near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kupwara district in the UT.
“This is very good. We have always been saying that we need to engage, reconcile and resolve things. The opening of Sharda temple is a very good thing. It is something that the Kashmiri Pandits were looking forward to, they really wanted it to be opened,” Mehbooba told reporters here.
She also expressed hope for the resumption of cross-LoC trade. The PDP chief said she hoped that the opening of the temple will not be restricted to pilgrimage, but “it will go beyond that”.
