Will announce candidates for Lok Sabha seats soon: PDP

Naseer Ganai

Srinagar, February 17

Days after National Conference veteran Farooq Abduallah’s statement created buzz in political circles, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday said the party would soon decide candidates for the parliamentary elections, indicating further fissures in the Opposition INDIA bloc.

“PDP president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti presided over an important meeting of the central Kashmir parliamentary segment to discuss the preparations for the election. Mehbooba Mufti said the parliamentary board would decide the candidates for parliamentary elections soon in a meeting headed by parliamentary board chiairman Mohammad Sartaj Madni,” a PDP statement here said.

All For unity, but lot’s happening

We don’t say we will go solo. Unity is our first and foremost priority. But we have to be ready even for the avoidable situation. We can’t be silent spectators to what’s going on around us. —Naeem Akhtar, PDP leader

“We don’t say we will go solo. Unity is our first and foremost priority. But we have to be ready even for the avoidable situation. The PDP has been the premier party of the state for the better part of the last quarter century. We have led two governments and been part of an Azad-led coalition. We have won Lok Sabha elections also. We can’t be silent spectators to what’s going on around us,” senior party leader Naeem Akhtar told The Tribune.

On Thursday, NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah said the NC’s doors were open for all, including the NDA, and the party would contest polls in J&K on its own strength. The statement created a storm and hours after Dr Abdullah’s statement the NC vice-president Omar Abdullah stepped in saying, “no door, no window not even a crack is open for the NDA.”

“First and foremost National Conference was a member of the INDIA bloc and we continue to remain its member,” Omar had said.

However, on seat sharing, Omar said of six parliamentary seats in J&K and Ladakh, NC won three in the Valley in the previous elections and there would be no discussion on these seats. This has not gone down well with the PDP, also a part of the INDIA bloc.

The PDP is interested in fielding Mehbooba Mufti from the South Kashmir parliamentary constituency. In the 2014 LS elections, the PDP won all three seats in the Valley. In the 2014 Assembly elections, the PDP won 11 of the 16 seats, while the NC and Congress won two each in the four districts of south Kashmir, showing the strong base the PDP had in the region.