Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 17: Urging the people of Srinagar to vote for People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the party patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said 2014 offers a historic opportunity for the State to defeat the vested interests that have held it captive for several decades. Addressing a well-attended public meeting in Batamaloo segment of Srinagar Parliamentary constituency, Mufti said for any change in the system and governance to be credible it is essential that the politically conscience people of Srinagar lead from the front. He said the unchallenged dominance of NC for most part of the last century has resulted in complete degeneration of that party making it unable to either provide voice to the people or take care of their needs. “NC has now become a power broking agent that sells the interests of the State and its people for its share of power and luxury. Hence this party has lost its representative character and credibility and is on a life support system which would not last long,” said Mufti. Referring to the repeated U-turns of NC to stay in power, Mufti said in1996 they sought votes in the name of autonomy and then went straight into the lap of BJP which has declared abrogation of Article 370 as one of its main objectives. He said NC had a record 60 members in the State Assembly and it had no compulsions to join the NDA, but it sacrificed the confidence and faith of the people just for Omar Abdullah to become a junior Minister in the BJP-led Government. Even the NDA could have run its Government without the participation of NC but strangely Dr Farooq Abdullah decided to gatecrash into the BJP -led coalition even in the face of opposition from their own ranks, Mufti said and recalled how Prof. Saif-ud-Din Soz was thrown out of the NC for voting against the first NDA Government, which brought that down. Mufti said all the alliance of NC have been without a political purpose or development goals, whether in 1986 Rajiv-Farooq coalition or NDA time or now in the Rahul-Omar alliance, the sole purpose has been somehow to secure power and keep Kashmir deprived of democratic rights and its due share in the development. The present coalition, he said, has brought nothing but miseries and destruction as a result of mis-governance, corruption and inefficiency. He said NC and Congress leadership can’t wash their hands off the secret hanging of Mohammad Afzal Guroo, out of turn, last year. He said the PDP’s agenda is to prevent such things in future and the party will work to uphold the sentiments of people and protect the interests of the State. He said Srinagar has been the main victim of NC’s lust for power and inability to govern. He said out of 126 persons killed in 2010 by Omar Abdullah Government most of the victims belong to Srinagar. Thousands have been involved in multiple police cases and an entire generation has been labeled as stone-pelters, drug addicts, LeT agents, criminals etc. He said PDP had made a strong beginning in reconstruction of Srinagar along with the other parts of the State in spite of the fact that it had no representative from Srinagar. He said the PDP’s main thrust would be to upgrade the representation of the state in the Parliament. Speaking on the occasion, the party’s candidate for Srinagar Parliamentary constituency, Tariq Hameed Karra said both NC and Congress have failed the people of Jammu & Kashmir as they remained busy with their own joys and fancies and didn’t care about them over the last more than five years .
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