PDP leader and ex-J&K Dy CM attends Modi rally, says have ‘come to listen to my PM’

SENIOR PDP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig was present at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally here Tuesday, setting off fresh speculation about leaders who might join the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.

One of the founding members of the PDP, Baig is a prominent Pahari leader from Kashmir. Several prominent tribal leaders from other parties have joined the BJP in recent days but, if he does so, Baig will be the first Pahari leader from the Kashmir province to follow in their wake.

Baig neither confirmed nor denied whether he would be joining the BJP, asking instead: “Can’t one come to listen to one’s PM?” Describing his presence at the rally as “my duty”, he added: “It is not necessary to join, but will perform my duty as per their (PM’s) programme… Joining any party frustrates the larger goal of one nation.”

All praise for PM Modi, the PDP leader said he has always had good relations with him, and that under his leadership, J&K had seen massive development; Kashmir had seen it “500 per cent”. “I have had good relations with PM Modi since I was in government (the Mufti Mohd Sayeed-led PDP-Congress government in J&K)… He (Modi) never asked me about my party, but always asked what our people needed.”

Baig also said that contrary to the belief that the Modi government will face a backlash in Kashmir in the coming Lok Sabha elections on account of the abrogation of Article 370, it will “perform well” in the province.

Associated with the PDP since its inception in the late 1990s, Baig had developed differences with the party over tickets for the District Development Council polls. In March 2021, he formally joined Sajad Lone’s Peoples Conference, only to be expelled a few months later. He “rejoined” the