Majid Jahangir

On Saturday evening, former minister and a three-time MLA Javeed Mustafa Mir resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party. This is the latest exit of a senior leader from the crisis-ridden party that dominated the mainstream political discourse in Kashmir for nearly two decades.

Party president Mehbooba Mufti in a bid to rescue her party has gone on an offensive to regain its lost ground and quell the growing rebellion in the ranks.

After the collapse of the PDP- BJP government in June last year, at least four former ministers Haseeb Drabu, Imran Ansari, Basharat Bukhari and Javid Mustafa Mir have quit the party. Two former MLAs and many senior leaders have also left the party

The leaders are leaving the PDP for “greener pastures” in the run-up to the Assembly elections. The dissent within the party continues over various issues. While it seems the PDP is imploding, party insiders say though the situation is worrisome, they will come out of it. “Parties don’t disappear and the PDP has an agenda,” senior party leader Naeem Akhtar said.

After the formation of the PDP in 1999, the party is now looking at Mehbooba to salvage the party. Mehbooba is not only fighting a battle of her life, she has to rescue her party from imploding and safeguard the idea on which the PDP was formed.

And she has started working on a strategy and has started reaching out to people in south Kashmir. She has so far visited families of two militants in south Kashmir. She had also adopted an aggressive stance against her former coalition partner BJP and the arch-rival National Conference on various issues.

The PDP has in fact started preparing for elections and the party believes the best way to come out of the present crisis is to reach out to the people. “There was no contact with the large mass of people which is alienated. She is trying to establishing a contact with them. This is not exploitation but this is what you do as a politician,” Akhtar added. Mehbooba’s visit to a slain militant’s family drew severe criticism from Omar Abdullah, who accused the former Chief Minister of “trying to rehabilitate a badly damaged reputation”

The downfall of the PDP, which was on a roll after its formation in 1999, started soon after it tied up with the right-wing BJP in 2015. The first indication of the unpopular coalition came when there was a thin presence of mourners at the funeral of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2016. The funeral clearly hinted that the PDP popularity was declining even in its south Kashmir bastion. Now with Mufti’s third death anniversary falling on Monday, the PDP finds itself at the crossroads

Courtesy:The Tribune,Jan,07,2019