Pitches youth leadership in ULB, panchayat polls
Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Apr 15: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today cautioned against a repeat of what she termed “irregularities” in the previous delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging that the past process had led to divisions and imbalances in the region.
Addressing reporters during her visit to north Kashmir’s Kupwara, Mufti said delimitation was inevitable but must be carried out fairly.
“Delimitation is set to happen and it will happen. It has been slated to take place in 2026-27. There will be no impact on it whether we speak about it or not. But we hope that the way delimitation was carried out earlier is not repeated,” she said.
Alleging discrepancies in the past exercise, she claimed that certain areas were reorganised in a manner that created distortions.
“Areas from one region were attached to another division, and in Jammu, constituencies were created with fewer voters. We hope such things are not repeated,” she added.
Mufti visited Kupwara as part of the party’s outreach programme in north Kashmir and was accompanied by senior PDP leaders, including Kupwara MLA Mir Fayaz and senior leader Abdul Haq Khan, along with other office-bearers.
During the visit, Mufti addressed a public gathering and interacted with party workers, listening to their grievances and assuring that their concerns would be taken up with the Government.
“We wanted to reach out to the people, listen to their issues, allow them to express their grievances, and take these matters up at appropriate forums,” she said.
She also raised key public issues including unemployment, development concerns and the prevailing political situation in J&K, while senior leaders accompanying her reiterated the party’s commitment to public welfare, peace and democratic values.
The PDP chief further called for greater participation of youth in upcoming urban local bodies and panchayat elections, stressing that “ideal, educated and service-oriented” candidates should come forward.
She said young people must be entrusted with leadership roles in panchayat institutions to ensure effective grassroots governance, adding that candidates need not necessarily belong to the PDP.
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