PDP favours pre-poll alliance with National Conference in Jammu & Kashmir

Favouring a pre-poll alliance with the National Conference for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP said the people of the Union Territory should unite to achieve the larger goal

Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party’s newly-constituted parliamentary board on Wednesday held its first meeting at party headquarters in Srinagar under the newly-appointed chairman and former deputy speaker Mohammad Sartaj Madni.

PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti (File)

Favouring a pre-poll alliance with the National Conference for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP on Wednesday said the people of the Union Territory should unite to achieve the larger goal.PDP Parliamentary Board chairman Mohammad Sartaj Madni said the party wants the constituents of the Peoples’ Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to remain together. “The PAGD was formed after Mehbooba’s struggle. She brought all together. Mehbooba is the anchor of the PAGD. So, we do not want any rifts in it. There will be nothing from our side to suggest that we do not want the alliance. We want that all the people of J-K get united for a larger goal to achieve that goal,” Madni told reporters here.

He was responding to a question on the leaders from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC) trading barbs publicly and whether a pre-poll alliance was a possibility.When asked if the party had finalised the candidates for the Lok Sabha polls next year, the PDP leader said the parliamentary board will decide that in another meeting.Responding to a question about the government’s claims of an improvement in the security situation, Madni said if all is well, then let them conduct the elections. “They have deferred the panchayat and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) polls. If all is well, then why are these elections or assembly polls not taking place? We want all to be well so that elections are conducted and the people get their government,” he added.Commenting on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Article 370 issue, Madni said the party has pinned its hopes with God.

“The last court, above the Supreme Court, is there and we have pinned our hopes on that. Let us see what God does,” he said.When asked if the PDP has any further plans, Madni said the party leadership will sit and discuss the issue first and then see what can be done.The former minister, when asked about the suspension of several MPs, said this is an issue about the Parliament, but “I think that the book of the Constitution has been shut in our country”.