Continuing its bid to disperse the soft-separatist image of his party, the Opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed said that their candidates in the parliamentary election would serve as bridge between the people of Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of country. He accused the ruling National Conference of creating a wedge between the country and the people of J&K by hiding the ground realities and ignoring the aspirations of people.
The PDP is magnifying its pro-India credentials in this election and its leadership does not show any qualms in appreciating NDA whiling citing its past interventions in Kashmir. The NC accuses the party of covertly hobnobbing with the BJP.The PDP president Mehbooba Mufti says that her party is nationalist by conviction unlike the NC that identifies itself with New Delhi only when in power.During a road show in his pocket borough of Pahalgam in South Kashmir’s Anantnag, Sayeed said the NC leadership has always misused the mandate of people and its representatives have failed to act as ambassadors of people.
Sayeed is campaigning for his daughter Mehbooba Mufti who is contesting against NC’s sitting MP Mehboob Beg.Mufti said that if NC representatives had acted seriously to bridge the gap between New Delhi and Kashmir, situation would have been different today. “Instead, it (NC) made power its only choice and went on to do historical blunders and sold the interests of the state and its resources”, he said.
He said that PDP would highlight aspirations of people in Kashmir in the parliament and make all-out efforts to seriously pursue its agenda of political resolution.He said the NC leadership is utterly frustrated by gauging the popular mood prevailing on the ground which is totally against them as they have badly failed to keep to the promises they made to people before coming to power.