Mir Iqbal
Srinagar, May 16: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti today said that her party would like to restart the process with New Delhi which former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had initiated on Kashmir.
Following the victory of PDP in all the three Parliamentary seats in Kashmir, the party president told a press conference that there has been a change in the political map across India and her party welcomes it.
The PDP leader said the party is not going New Delhi to forge alliance with any party. “We would like to restart the process which former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had initiated on Kashmir,” she said.
Mehbooba said that PDP is the only party which had a manifesto for Parliamentary elections and the party would work on the mandate particularly to improve the relations of the State with both India and Pakistan. She said that the party will adopt the policy of reconciliation with both New Delhi and Islamabad.
The PDP president said that her party has emerged as an alternate despite all the violence and trouble created during the elections. “This overwhelming mandate is a challenge for PDP and we will try to live up to the expectations of people,” she said.
The PDP leader said that her party has emerged as the leader bagging all the three seats from Kashmir valley while receiving a sizeable number of votes in Jammu region. “This is a moment of glory for our party which has the distinction of being the youngest political organization of the State and which has been responsible for introducing a genuine competition in political scene of J&K which had witnessed the predominance of only one political party for better part of the past century,” she said.
“We thank the party cadre, the people of State and Election Commission of India for holding free and fair elections since 2002,” Mehbooba said, adding, she was also thankful to Kashmiri Pandits and minority community for voting for their party.
Based on this decisive mandate, the PDP leader said: “We will do exactly what we have stated in our manifesto; not look for ministerial berths and use the Parliament as a forum for debate and dialogue on the Kashmir issue.”
Mehbooba also said that the polls this time have resulted in a profound change in the political landscape of the country. People have participated in this election in unprecedented number to write a new script in country’s electoral history.
“In J&K, we too witnessed a change that is unprecedented in its nature and dimensions. Democratic competition has achieved a new cutting edge in the State and people have participated in the process not only in respectable numbers but in case of Kashmir division they have had to brave heavy odds,” the jubilant Mehbooba said.
The PDP president said her party treats this as an opportunity to serve the State to the best of their ability and also recognize it as a challenge in view of the huge problems that the State faces.
“For me personally this is an overwhelming occasion as I along with my distinguished colleagues Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Tariq Hamid Karra are trusted by the people for representing them in the highest democratic forum of the country. “I am humbled by the new responsibility and the expectations that this vote entails,” she said.
Mehbooba said these results also show that the new age voters vote for real issues who reposed their trust in democratic process and constitutional methods of finding a resolution to the Kashmir issue and the issues of Jammu and Kashmir. “We are grateful to them and I pray to God that we are able to discharge our duty towards them to the best of our ability and in accordance with our manifesto,” she said.
Earlier, Tariq Hamid Karra who won form Srinagar by defeating Dr Farooq Abdullah said that he attributes his victory to the youth of the State who faced State repression. He said that it is the youth of the State who brought this change.
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