‘Had hoped Farooq Sahib would keep party interest aside’: Mehbooba pitches PDP against NC in Valley

Two days after the National Conference (NC) ruled out any possibility of seat-sharing in Kashmir for the Lok Sabha elections by announcing its candidate Mian Altaf for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced that it would contest all three seats in the Valley.

On Wednesday, PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, while announcing the party’s bid to contest all three Valley seats, said that the NC “didn’t leave any door open” for her party.

The move will see the NC and the PDP — partners in the Opposition INDIA bloc — take on each other on the three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir.

The NC and the PDP – the leading political players in the Valley – have been fierce rivals over the decades, who got together only after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A in 2019. They formed the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) in 2020 along with other local parties to jointly fight for the restoration of Kashmir’s special status.

Another INDIA partner, the Congress, which was keen on a seat-sharing deal between the NC and the PDP, has decided to contest only from the Jammu region. The Congress had wanted the NC to contest from two Valley seats, leaving Anantnag-Rajouri for PDP president Mehbooba Mufti.

“The situation in Jammu and Kashmir demanded that we move together in an alliance. But they (NC) didn’t leave any door open for us,” said Mehbooba, adding, “At the INDIA meeting in Mumbai, I had said that since (NC president) Farooq Abdullah is our senior leader, he will take a decision (on seat-sharing) and will do justice. I had hoped he would keep the party interest aside.”

Referring to NC leader Omar Abdullah’s press conference, where he announced the NC candidates, she further said,