Mehbooba Mufti to take on Ghulam Nabi Azad as PDP announces 3 candidates in Kashmir

Naseer A Ganai

Srinagar, April 7

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today announced candidates for the three constituencies in Kashmir with party president Mehbooba Mufti taking on DPAP chief Ghulam Nabi Azad in South Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

The National Conference has fielded influential Gujjar leader Mian Altaf Ahmad from Anantnag-Rajouri and the Apni Party has named Zaffar Iqbal Manhas. The BJP has not announced its candidate so far.

PDP parliamentary board chief Sartaj Madni announced the party candidates for the three seats in Kashmir. While party’s youth wing president Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra has been fielded from Srinagar, former Rajya Sabha MP Fayaz Ahmad Mir will contest from North Kashmir. The PDP will be supporting Congress candidates in the two Jammu region seats of Udhampur and Jammu.

Speaking to mediapersons at the party headquarters here, Mehbooba said the National Conference’s (NC) announcement of candidate for the South Kashmir seat had forced them to contest all the three segments in Kashmir. “We are extending our support to the Congress in Jammu,” she said.

Asked if the Congress will reciprocate in Kashmir, the PDP president said she was not extending support to the national party on quid pro quo basis.

“We have decided to support the Congress for the larger fight to save the Constitution and democracy,” she said.

On her party contesting against INDIA bloc partner National Conference, Mufti said she had left the ball in NC president Farooq Abdullah’s court. “During the INDIA bloc meeting in Mumbai, I had mentioned that the decision on seat-sharing had to be taken by Abdullah. However, we were disappointed when they chose to contest all the three seats in Kashmir without even consulting us,” she said.

Mehbooba alleged that the people must remember how Kashmir had been “turned into a vast prison following the abrogation of Article 370”. “Here, you cannot speak up. There are constant raids conducted by various agencies. Journalists are silenced, people struggle to obtain passports, job opportunities are scarce and those fortunate enough to get one are often denied these due to perceived affiliation with militants. Anyone speaking out is labelled anti-national,” she said.

The PDP president alleged that like other Kashmiris, she too had endured prolonged arrest, was denied a passport, faced eviction from her home and was subjected to Enforcement Directorate raids. Pointing to Waheed Parra, she said he was a “prime example of the suffering of the Kashmiri youth”. She alleged that Parra was incarcerated, subjected to torture and faced the additional anguish of being unable to accompany his father to Mumbai for medical treatment when he was diagnosed with cancer. “Even when his nephew was critically ill in Delhi, Parra was denied permission to visit him,” she said.

Both Mehbooba and Parra were arrested following the abrogation of Article 370. Mehbooba was detained alongside other former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, as well as other leaders on August 5, 2019, the day the government abrogated Article 370. After more than 14 months, she was released on October 14, 2020. On May 25, 2022, Parra too was granted bail after 18 months of custody by the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, which said that the evidence gathered by the prosecution was “too sketchy” to deny him relief. (With PTI inputs)

Jolt to INDIA bloc

• PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti will contest Anantnag-Rajouri seat in South Kashmir
• Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra will fight from Srinagar and Fayaz Ahmad Mir from North Kashmir
• PDP to support Congress in Jammu and Udhampur
• NC has already announced candidates for the 3 Kashmir seats

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