Signalling differences, two senior MPs of ruling PDP stayed away from the party’s review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed with one of them accusing the leadership of “muzzling” the voice of dissent within the party.
Lok Sabha MP from prestigious Srinagar Constituency Tariq Hameed Karra and member Parliament from Baramulla seat Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, both former state finance ministers, abstained from the PDP meeting convened yesterday to review the performance of the party ministers in the state’s coalition government.
“What is the point of attending a meeting where the leadership is not willing to listen to you? Dissenting voices are being muzzled there (in PDP),” Karra said.
Karra, who defeated National Conference stalwart Farooq Abdullah in the Lok Sabha elections last year, said “sychophancy is being promoted” within the ruling party.
“We went to the people of the state (during elections) saying that there is oppression under National Conference rule. “Nothing has changed almost a year later… How do we face the people now,” he said.
Karra, who has been a staunch opponent of the PDP’s alliance with the BJP to form the government after a hung verdict in last year’s Assembly polls, said the alliance has not been accepted by the people.
“My reservations are well known. This alliance (PDP-BJP) has not gone down well with the people of Kashmir,” he claimed. Karra said the PDP has put its core agenda on the back burner for forging the alliance with the BJP.
“Revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), return of power projects to the state and self rule for the state are some of the core agenda of PDP but these issues have been put on the backburner,” he said.
Karra said Sayeed should have resigned as the Chief Minister of the state on November 7 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi “publicly snubbed” his demand for dialogue with Pakistan at the public rally here.
“Only once did he (Sayeed) raise the issue of (dialogue with) Pakistan and he was snubbed by the Prime Minister. He should have resigned then and there,” he added.
Beigh, one of the founding members of the PDP, also did not attend yesterday’s party meeting.
Beigh could not be reached for comment as one of his close aides said “he is busy in a meeting”.
Although some of the MLAs, considered loyal to Karra and Beigh, attended the PDP meeting.
During the meeting, Sayeed announced framing of a political affairs’ committee of the PDP “to give a new direction to the agenda of the party, in tune with the aspirations and wishes of the people. Our responsibility is to sustain the trust and confidence that people continue to repose in us.
