Rift in NC over poll boycott, spokesman Mattoo resigns

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 25

Differences surfaced in the National Conference on Tuesday when its spokesman Junaid Mattoo resigned from the party over disagreement on its decision to boycott the municipal and panchayat elections.

He said he would contest the municipal elections and announce his candidature in Srinagar on Wednesday, saying that he “would not be addressing the media and taking any questions today”.

Mattoo announced his decision to quit from the party on Twitter. “I have just sent my resignation from the party to the general secretary,” he tweeted.

Soon after, the National Conference tweeted that Mattoo’s resignation from the basic membership of the party had been accepted.

“I will announce my candidature for the ULB (urban local bodies) elections from Srinagar tomorrow… and I remain committed to serving my people and helping the city I grew up in to meet the challenges it’s faced with,” he wrote in another tweet.

Mattoo further said leaving the “grassroots democratic institutions open to misrepresentation would inflict serious harm on the state and also wreak havoc with our social fabric and cultural legacy”.

The National Conference, led by Farooq Abdullah, has already announced its decision to boycott the municipal and panchayat elections over the issue of Article 35A. It had asked the government to make its stand clear on the issue.

Mattoo, educated in the US, returned to Kashmir in 2009 and had been associated with the People’s Conference led by Sajjad Gani Lone. After quitting the People’s Conference, he joined the National Conference in November 2013.