In a major jolt to ruling National Conference (NC), senior leader and former Member of Parliament Mehboob Beg announced to withdraw from the Assembly polls in favour of Opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed from south Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency.
Beg, however, refrained from formally joining the PDP. The NC termed his switch-over as “sheer opportunism”. Beg had been nominated by the NC to contest against Sayeed. Beg has changed several political parties since he quit his medical profession to step into his father’s shoes.
His father, late Mirza Muhammad Afzal Beg, was the right hand of founder of the NC Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. Senior Beg’s negotiations with G Parthasarthy paved way for Indira-Abdullah accord of 1975 that brought Sheikh Abdullah to political mainstream after burying Plebiscite Front. However, Abdullah later dumped him and he died in political isolation.
Speaking to his followers at a gathering in Sarnal part of Anantnag, Beg announced that he would not contest the Assembly elections and instead campaign for former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.
“I will not contest from Anantnag on a National Conference ticket and have decided to support Mufti Sahib,” Beg said adding “The PDP is the only party which is gaining momentum in the State and can keep away the RSS and the BJP from Kashmir”.
Beg, who was vocal against the PDP and father-daughter duo of Muftis in the past, blamed the ruling NC for “ignoring south Kashmir in developmental activities”. “Whenever I attended board meetings and raised issues of the district, the Government ignored them,” he said.
The south Kashmir is known as the PDP bastion where the party bagged all but two Assembly segments in Kulgam, Pulwama, Anantrnag and Shopian districts in 2008 elections. Beg and Sakina Itto, a Minister in Omar Abdullah’s Cabinet were the only influential NC leaders in south Kashmir.
NC’s working president and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took to micro-blogging website Twitter to react to the development. “There can be no denying that Beg’s departure is something the NC could have done without but it has been on the cards for a couple of weeks. If the PDP really wants to know what Beg thinks of them just pull out the recordings of his campaign speeches from the last lS polls,” he wrote.
Mehboob lost 2008 Assembly elections against Mufti but defeated PDP candidate Pir Muhammad Hussian in 2009 parliamentary elections. He was however, defeated by PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti in recent lok Sabha elections. After the recent defeat Beg had developed cold feet for the NC.
“If we have to stop the march of the RSS and the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, we must strengthen the hands of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed”, Beg said.
After Omar Abdullah’s reaction to the development, NC’s Provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani accused Beg of being “political opportunist”. He said that Beg had approached Omar Abdullah for a Cabinet berth after he was defeated in the lok Sabha elections.
Wani said that Mehboob Beg was till yesterday accusing Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for being responsible for various massacres in Kashmir but now he is going to support the same person.
Wani wondered as to how the PDP would stop the BJP and the RSS onslaught in Kashmir when he is record to say that the PDP was in a tactical alliance with the BJP and want to weaken the State’s secular fabric and ethos.
“A few months back Beg saw the PDP as a face of the BJP in J&K and today Beg thinks that the PDP will stop the BJP. This is a self-evident contradiction that Beg is welcome to clarify if he can,” Wani said.