PDP was formed before autonomy resolution, Mehbooba tells Omar

Peoples' Democratic President (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has said chief minister Omar Abdullah had given a misleading account of her party that it was formed after the Jammu and Kashmir assembly passed a resolution on restoring autonomy of the state.

Omar in an interview to a Kashmir-based newspaper 'Greater Kashmir' has said the PDP came into existence immediately after the National Conference (NC) passed the resolution on autonomy.

Mehbooba in a Facebook post said: “Omar in an interview claimed that the PDP was formed immediately after the NC resolution was passed in the assembly. It's another glaring example of his misleading statements. The PDP was formed on July 28, 1999, whereas the resolution was passed in 2000.”

The PDP president noted, “The resolution was eventually rejected by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led government of which the NC was an alliance partner and Omar was a minister.

The J&K assembly had passed the resolution on June 26, 2000, recommending the pre-1953 constitutional position in the state be restored, but it was summarily rejected by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government.

Rejecting the resolution, the then union cabinet had observed that it would set the clock back and reverse the natural process of harmonising the aspiration of the people of the state with the integrity of the nation.

In the same interview, Omar said the PDP was formed as some forces in Delhi were scared and didn't want the J&K people to get united behind a political force. He said these forces then created as regional force and some people were given regional identity to split the voice of Kashmiris.

Mehbooba Facebook page, liked by nearly 14,000 people, has become quite active after the party won all three Lok Sabha seats from the Kashmir region in the recently-concluded elections.

Since PDP's victory party president has been posting achievements and programmes of the party when it was in power in the state in 2002 to 08.