KNZ NEWS DESK
Jammu, Jul 30 : Reiterating here stand that key to restore normalcy and trust in Jammu and Kashmir lies in winning the hearts of people, President Peoples Democratic Party and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Monday said that her party risked everything in an attempt to achieve larger goals beyond power and protocols.
“We took the decision to form government with Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) despite the political risks involved. The propose was clear and our agenda was public. We had did not formed the government for the sake of it. We had very good experience of working with the same party then headed by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and wanted the state out of uncertainty and commotion”, she said.
Mehbooba Mufti was addressing largely attested public meeting on the eve of party’s 19th foundation day here.
She said that AB Vajpayee’s assurance of free and fair elections in 2002 was outcome of his understanding of Kashmir problem. “When Vajpayee Ji sought a feedback from Mufti Sahib about the situation in Kashmir prior to elections he was told that Delhi need to restore the trust of people on democracy. Mufti sahib told him that the general perception in Kashmir was that it’s not the voters but Delhi which decides the fate of political parties in the state”, she said.
She said that despite the fact that BJP was in alliance with National Conference the central government not only ensured free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir but Vajpayee ji personally reached out to the people of Kashmir by taking several measures. “The golden era of Jammu and Kashmir would not have been possible without the understanding Vajpayee ji had. We were able to restore peace with dignity, open borders, hold dialogue internally as well as with neighbouring country, create employment and ensure equitable development because both state and central government were on the same page”, he said.
She said that it was the same objective for which PDP entered into an alliance with BJP after emerging as the largest political party in 2014 assembly elections. “Mufti sahib was optimistic and was ready to take all risk in order to bring people out of the situation, which has been forced upon the state due to continuous mis-governance. The risk was greater but the objectives were more important”, she said.
Ms Mufti expressed gratitude to the workers for standing beside her despite all odds. “We started with one seat and formed governments twice in last 19 years. Ours limited period in governments is being compared with those of nearly half century”, she said adding, “I assure all the party workers across the state that PDP will never betray their trust and confidence. We shall continue to thieve for prosper state with focus on our agenda of peace and reconciliation”.
On the occasion, besides thousands of people, party workers and activists all the legislators, senior leaders, district presidents and zonal presidents were present. They included Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, Choudhary Qamer ud Din, Shah Mohammad Tantrey, Anjum Fazli MLAs, Firdous Tak, Yashpal Sharma, Surinder Choudhary, MLCs, Ved Mahajan, Mohammad Rashid Quraishi, S Raif Hussain Khan former legislators, Vijay Dogra Katoch, Choudhary Manmohan Singh, Bushan Lal Dogra, Tarlok Singh Bajwa, Choudhary Abdul Hamid, Daman Bhasin, Choudhay Hussain Ali Wafa, Abdu Rashid Malik, Stapal Singh Charak, Amreek Singh Reen, Surjeet Kour, Romesh Koul, Varinder Singh Sonu, Sukhwinder Singh, Ranbir Singh Manga, Balbir Singh, Ashok Jogi, Faqir Chand Bhagat, Rajindre Manhas, Dr Harmesh Singh Slathia, Surinder Singh, Shafiq ul Rehman, Hans Raj Kalotra, Bashir Ahmed Runyal, Aijaz Mirza, Shameem Dar, Shahab-ul-Haq, Sheikh Nasir Hussain, Jasmeet Kour besides others. (KNS)
