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Party stands firm with INDIA bloc, PDP says
Cautions people against falling for “fabricated” news about PDP breaking ties with the INDIA alliance
Akin to the National Conference (NC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also on Monday reiterated that the party was part of the Opposition INDIA bloc two days after hosting a meeting to discuss Lok Sabha poll preparations.
“Disregard the fabricated news about PDP breaking ties with the INDIA alliance. We stand firm in our commitment to unity and our alliance. Don’t be misled by this malicious misinformation!,” a post on PDP’s official ‘X’ handle read.
PDP president and former chief minister (CM) Mehbooba Mufti had on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting in Srinagar to identify candidates for the Lok Sabha seats.
The meeting, which was attended by senior party leaders, came in close succession with NC president Farooq Abdullah having announced his party’s willingness to contest all five Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir independently. His son and party vice-president had later clarified that NC was still a part of the INDIA bloc.
The developments come amid rumblings in both PDP and NC, with party workers insisting the senior leaderships that their parties should contest Lok Sabha and assembly polls independently.
Notably, PDP has been eyeing room for party president Mehbooba Mufti in the alliance’s seat-sharing arrangements.
NC, however, maintains that the party will not spare any of the three Lok Sabha seats from Kashmir for its allies. The party had emerged victorious from the seats in question during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. NC, however, is open for talks on three other seats from the region — two in Jammu and one in Ladakh — with the Congress.
