The Opposition National Conference (NC) on Wednesday asked its arch rival and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti to make public what she has demanded from the Centre as a pre-con
The Opposition National Conference (NC) on Wednesday asked its arch rival and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti to make public what she has demanded from the Centre as a pre-condition for forming the new government in Jammu and Kashmir with its alliance partner BJP.
“She must make public the alleged charter of demands public so that the people could actually compare these with the eventual concessions, or lack of concessions, that she is able to extract,” NC general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar told reporters here.
Lashing out at the PDP for being responsible for the present political stalemate in the state, he said Ms Mufti’s “conspicuous silence during past ten months on issues like AFSPA revocation spoke louder than any antics that are being enacted now to salvage the last remnants of PDP’s image in the state”.
“Mehbooba should tell the people what she is demanding from the Central government since these demands are being made in their name and at a cost of their right to have an elected government,” he said, adding that the BJP has officially stated that it has not received any demands from the PDP, “a declaration that has exposed PDP’s drama”. If at all there are any political demands, the people need to know so that they can then measure these demands in comparison to what Ms Mufti succeeds in achieving, he said.
He also said that until and unless Ms Mufti makes her “charter of demands” public, the PDP’s current posturing amounted to “precious little and is nothing beyond a theatrical performance aimed at rebuilding a severely dented image”.
Commenting on the prevalent political stalemate in the state, the NC leader said there were only two options to uphold the principles of the Constitution — that either the PDP and the BJP form the government without any further delay or fresh elections be announced in the state.
“There can be no middle path and status quo in perpetuity with limitless extensions and new deadlines not only violates basic principles of the Constitution, but also comes at a grave risk of discrediting democratic institutions in the state,” he asserted.
