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Former Jammu and Kashmir minister Bukhari launches new political outfit
The new political formation, which enjoys the Centre’s backing, has politicians from the PDP, the Congress and the NC.
The former finance minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government Altaf Bukhari launched the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party – a new political formation – in Srinagar on Sunday.
But, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, former deputy chief minister and a PDP member, who was to be an influential voice for the new formation, was conspicuous by his absence. Baig, who was recently conferred the Padma Bhushan, declined to comment. A government official, who didn’t want to be named, said “negotiations broke down at the last minute”.
“This party is by the commoners, for the commoners and of the commoners,” Bukhari said. Bukhari was elected as the party’s founding president on Saturday.
“People are feeling the absence of credible voices, who can take up their issues and resolve them,” Bukhari said. “This party is not floated by a family. Any person who becomes party president cannot be elected more than twice,” he added.
Bukhari emphasised that “commoners” make the new political formation is similar to the Centre’s narrative. The Centre too had stressed that Jammu and Kashmir politics had been hijacked by a “few families” soon after scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and splitting the state into two Union Territories (UTs) on August 5.
The new political formation, which enjoys the Centre’s backing, has politicians from the PDP, the Congress and the NC. The PDP has the largest number of members in the new formation, but only three NC members have joined the Apni Party.
“I joined the front because I thought it will give me an opportunity to serve the people better than the last platform [NC],” Vijaya Bahakaya, one of three members of the NC who joined Apni Party, said.
Earlier, the Centre had made clear that it would allow the resumption of political activity around the restoration of the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The government has no problems if political activity starts in Jammu and Kashmir. But the restoration of Article 370 – the Constitutional provision that granted special status to the erstwhile state – is out of bounds,” a government official, said. The PDP criticised the Apni Party and called it “undemocratic”.
“By suppressing people’s elected voice and keeping three former CMs under detention to facilitate launch of a new outfit by breaking other parties is both undemocratic and scandalous,” PDP spokesperson Mohit Bhan said.
