Peoples Democratic Party party’s founding member and Member of Parliament Muzzaffar Baig is likely to be given more responsibility as the party is all set for a major revamp after its foundation day on July 28. All six officer-bearers of the party had resigned on Monday to facilitate the reorganisation.
Sources said that after the fall of the coalition government, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti during her interactions with lawmakers, MPs and district and zonal presidents had got a fair feedback on the brewing rebellion within the party and the need to revamp it. It is also likely that senior leaders and former ministers, including Abdul Rehman Veeri, Syed Altaf Bukhari, Dilawar Mir and Abdul Haq Khan, would get more responsibilities when the PDP completes 19 years as a regional party. It is learnt that Mehbooba’s core team, including senior leaders Altaf Bukhari, Abdu Rehman Veeri, Dilawar Mir and Haq Khan, will also play a major role in reorganising the party. There is also a possibility that elected MLAs will be given more responsibilities. The PDP is facing the biggest revolt within the party since its formation in 1999. At least five MLAs and two MLCs have spoken against the party leadership after the fall of the government.
“The main focus now is to ensure that the party stays united and this challenge is a priority now for the party president,” a party leader said.
The sources said that after the “unholy alliance” with the BJP, the PDP would also aim at regaining its lost ground in the Valley, mainly south Kashmir.
On Monday, PDP vice-president and Mehbooba’s maternal uncle Sartaj Madni and five other office-bearers of the party put in their papers in a bid to silence the rebels and save the organisation from falling apart.
The party founded by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 1999 has been growing in terms of its representation in the state legislature, though it could not claim a majority on its own in any of the last three Assembly elections held in the state. On two occasions, it entered into a coalition with the Congress.
Muzzaffar Baig may be given bigger role in party overhaul
