Mehbooba dissolves key decision-making committee of party
PDP has suffered several jolts with many top leaders and legislators leaving the party and most of them joining other political parties.
People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti dissolved the top decision-making Political Affairs Committee (PAC) on Saturday, three days after a former minister resigned from the party, the fifth to do so since June 2018.
Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew support to the coalition government led by Mehbooba on June 19 last year, the PDP has suffered several jolts with many top leaders and legislators leaving the party and most of them joining other political parties.
A senior PDP leader said on condition of anonymity that the PAC dissolution decision was a timely one after the spate of resignations from the party and rumours of a few more. “In the new PAC, fresh faces could be included who could help the party to grow in all regions, especially when the party is in need of good leaders and is out of power. There will be a new PAC soon.”
Suhail Bukhari, PDP spokesperson and media advisor to Mehbooba, confirmed that the PAC had been dissolved. “The new PAC will be formed soon. It is an effort to rejuvenate the party and its leadership.”
The PAC had 12 members: Mehbooba Mufti, Muzuffar Hussain Beig, Abdul Rehman Veeri, Flail Singh, Nizam-ud-din Bhat, Qazi Afzal, Mohammad Dilawar Mir, Yaspal Sharma, Mehboob Beig, Ashraf Mir, Haji Anayat Ali, Rafiq Hussain Khan and Choudhry Zulfkar. While Mehboob Beig has resigned from the party and joined the National Conference (NC), Qazi Afzal passed away a few months ago.
On Wednesday, three-time legislator Khalil Bandh resigned from the PDP claiming he had been humiliated. Bandh is the fifth senior ex-minister to resign after Mehbooba stepped down as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister last year. The four other senior leaders, also founding members, who resigned on similar grounds are Altaf Bukhari, Haseeb Drabu, Imran Ansari and his brother, Abid Ansari.
The PDP leadership is worried that Bandh’s departure could trigger a fresh wave of resignations in south Kashmir where party cadres are said to be “demoralised” after Mehbooba lost the Lok Sabha polls.
Though four districts of south Kashmir — Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag — were considered a strong PDP base, the party faced a complete boycott across all assembly segments during the Lok Sabha polls, leading to a comfortable victory for NC’s Hasnain Masoodi. The PDP leadership has since decided to hold programs to revive its base in the area. It is also planning to launch a mass contact program across the Valley, especially in south Kashmir.
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