Will emerge kingmaker, claims Apni Party leader
Ahead of the results for the Assembly elections on October 8, a senior leader of Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party and former minister Mohammad Ashraf Mir said on Thursday that the party was ready to ally with any party, which would support and accept their agenda.
Mir, who is party’s provincial president in Kashmir, told The Tribune that the party would emerge as a “kingmaker” in the Assembly elections.
He said, “We are in a winning position at many places. I am sure this time, the party’s vote share will also increase as compared to the Lok Sabha election.”
“This time, we had a number of experienced candidates and I am sure we will have a good number of seats,” he added.
Mir said the party was open to ally with those who would accept its agenda, he, however, added that the party would not ally with the BJP.
Apni party was formed in 2020 by former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Altaf Bukhari, who is now the party supremo. After failing to make a mark in this year’s Lok Sabha poll, the Apni Party has been trying to shun the tag of being the BJP’s ‘proxy party’. Party leaders maintained that the perception had damaged the party’s electoral prospects in Kashmir.
According to Mir, this Assembly election was altogether different and people were waiting to have their own government. Besides, people also got a choice between different parties and candidates. “The voting turnout has been high in this election, which will have a greater impact locally. People have expectations that the new government will solve their problems. They are waiting for a candidate, who is accessible and listens to them,” he said.
Mir said, “All parties will take their own share, unlike in the past when there were only a few parties.”
When asked about the Lal Chowk segment, from where he contested, Mir said he was confident of winning the seat. “I got a huge response from the public during campaigning and I am sure that I will win from the seat,” said Mir, who had defeated former CM Omar Abdullah and won from the Sonwar seat on the PDP ticket in 2014.
