The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti made a huge announcement on Saturday that in the upcoming J&K Assembly polls the PDP “will extend complete electoral support to the National Conference (NC) if it accepts the PDP’s pro-people agenda”.
Mufti said her party would welcome an alliance “based on an agenda seeking a resolution of the Kashmir issue”, but not for elections and seat-sharing arrangements. She made these statements while releasing the PDP’s poll manifesto at the party headquarters in Srinagar.
Significantly, the Congress and the NC announced their alliance for all 90 Assembly seats in J&K on Thursday, when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met the NC top brass at its president Farooq Abdullah’s residence in Srinagar.
‘If NC and congress are ready to accept our manifesto and agree on a resolution of the Kashmir issue, we will support them without fighting on any seat,’ said Mehbooba Manifesto.
In her party manifesto, she has pushed for the restoration of trade between India and Pakistan across LOC. The same point has also been incorporated by the National Conference in 12 guarantees of its manifesto. Mufti said, We are releasing our manifesto today and as usual since the beginning of PDP, it has started for a cause. We have always worked for the resolution and reconciliation. After the abrogation of Article 370, the situation has worsened in Jammu Kashmir. At this time now the Kashmir issue has been brought down to seat sharing. But it’s much bigger and it still remains.”
Open trade across LoC, free electricity up to 200 units for residents, free electricity for temples, mosques and shrines, abolish tax on water, no meters for water. Apart from that, Mufti said that the PDP will implement the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed scheme again as poor who have 1 to 6 people in their house did not get enough rice and ration. She also said that PDP will provide 12 cylinders a year to the poor family.
Moreover, she added that she will double the social security like old age pension, widow pension etc. PDP Chief also advocated the opening and promotion of Sharda Peeth across the Line of Control (LoC) as a full-fledged religious pilgrimage site. Commitment to the revocation of AFSPA, Re-establishment of the J&K Human Rights Commission, Protect the land and employment rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, imposing 100 per cent import duty on Apples to benefit local producers, are other promises in the PDP manifesto.