"People have voted en masse for the (Gupkar) alliance,” Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti told NDTV, on Wednesday, 23 December, after People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) won the most number of seats in the first major local elections to be held in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, emerged as the single-largest party in the local body elections in the UT.
“It is loud and clear for Delhi to understand that people have not forgotten... Article 370 still lives in our hearts and minds, and we will fight for it until our last breath.”Mehbooba Mufti to NDTV
Further Mufti stated that the DDC polls were like “a referendum on the scrapping of Article 370 and the BJP themselves kept harping on the subject during campaigning.”
“So, the result shows that the people of J&K have rejected that narrative. They have thereby rejected scrapping of Article 370,” she added.
‘I’m Not in the Race for Chief Ministership’
According to NDTV, Mufti also stated that she would not contest any election until the abrogation of Article 370 and the scrapping of the special status to J&K was reversed.
She further said if required, she could even move the International Court of Justice.
On being asked about a potential power struggle with rival National Conference, Mufti said:
“We have been rivals, but for the larger cause of J&K, we can all get together. We are Kashmiris at the end of the day. We are not talking only about elections but for the larger cause of restoring what was lost.”
The former J&K CM also said: "Whenever Assembly polls are held, we will sit together and discuss (on Chief Ministership). I am not in the race.”
On Her Father’s Decision To Partner With BJP in 2014
Calling her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's decision to partner with the BJP in 2014 a “deal with the devil”, Mufti said:
“Mufti Sahab did not join hands with (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi but with the Prime Minister of India, to resolve the problems of Kashmir. My father tried to engage the BJP through an alliance. Our agenda was the same, and we entered into the alliance on our terms. They agreed to everything, but after the government fell, they did what they wanted.”
The ‘BJP Agenda’
Mehbooba Mufti alleged that throughout the country, the Constitution was being replaced by the BJP’s agenda.
“They are auditing the expenditure on the mausoleum of my father. I may be arrested anytime, but they cannot find anything against me... They have weaponised investigating agencies. Look at what is happening with Mamata Banerjee (Bengal). They have terrorised everyone into silence. What is happening in the country, multiply it by 100, and that is happening in Kashmir. There is a silence of graveyards here.”Mehbooba Mufti to NDTV
She also stated that there were many detentions while the polls were underway in the Union Territory and told NDTV that "I myself was detained on four occasions. I was told that I could move out only after voting starts.”
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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