Srinagar: Disclosing it for the first time that it was Peoples Democratic Partys policies which compelled its senior leadership to go for vigorous campaigning against Mehbooba Mufti in Anantnag, Congress today accused PDP of repeating 2008 mistake by fielding a candidate in Udhampur Lok Sabah constituency against Ghulam Nabi Azad.
The PDP pulled out its support from Ghulam Nabi Azad government in 2008 and it has again ditched Azad sahib in Udhampur by fielding a candidate that too from Chenab valley, a senior Congress leader and close associate of Azad said pleading anonymity. We had thought PDP would be remorseful for its 2008 mistake but not only Mehbooba Mufti fielded a candidate against Azad sahib to cut Muslim votes in Udhampur but she also visited personally to campaign against Congress, the Congress senior leader said.
Another senior Congress leader and minister in Chief Minister Omar Abdullahs cabinet says that by fielding its candidate against Ghulam Nabi Azad, the PDP has supported BJP. It is not me but even Azad Sahibs has expressed it many a times without any ambiguity that PDP has helped BJP by fielding its candidate in Udhampur, the Congress minister said wishing not to be named.
When asked why he showed keen interest in coming openly against PDP candidate Mehbooba Mufti in Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency this time, Ghulam Nabi Azad said on phone from Lucknow: It is not the question of my interest or no interest but I have to go by the party high commands decision. It is the party high command which makes such decisions and everybody in the party is supposed to follow these decisions.
Recently Azad while asking people in Anantnag to vote for Coalition candidate Dr Mehboob Beg had asked PDP to shun its diplomatic policy and come clean on its political ideology. The present Lok Sabah election is a battle between secular forces led by Rahul Gandhi and communal elements led by Narendra Modi PDP which is nowhere at the national political scene, has preferred not to declare its allegiance to either of the two, Azad was quoted by media while addressing election rallies in Verinag and Kokernag areas of Anantnag Parliamentary constituency on April 21.
Asked that if he is scheduled to campaign for the coalition candidates in Srinagar and Baramulla Lok Sabha constituencies, Azad said: I would have come there to campaign for coalition candidates in Srinagar and Baramulla but I, am busy with campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, Telengana and Himachal Pradesh. Pertinently, Azad has been deputed for campaigning in Telangana after he played a pivotal role for the party as the incharge of Andhra Pradesh. Before the announcement of statehood for Telangana Azad had held a series of meetings with representatives of its three regions-Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana and submitted his recommendations on the issue before the party high command.
Prof Saif-u-Din Soz, president Pradesh Congress Committee when asked to comment on the issue said: Though the PDP had announced candidature of Mr Arshid Malik from Udhampur before the Congress made the announcement about Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad as its candidate from Udhampur, I, had personally, presumed that PDP would withdraw its candidate because fielding him would have served no purpose for the party. But unfortunately that didnt happened.
We did what suited an independent party: Akhtar
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday said that the opinion of Congress leaders that PDP has repeated 2008 mistake by fielding its candidate against Ghulam Nabi Azad in Udhampur is based on assumptions and far from a reality.
Everyone is entitled to have his or her opinion. But we are the first party to announce our candidates in that too six months before the elections in Udhampur and other constituencies. Besides that we were not in alliance with any of the parties for which we would have withdrawn our candidate, Naeem Akhter, MLC and chief spokesman of the PDP said on phone.
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