Srinagar:

Leaders of Jammu and Kashmir’s two key political parties – Omar Abdullah and now Mehbooba Mufi – have targeted the growing number of Independent candidates in the coming assembly elections in the Union Territory. While Mr Abdullah has said the BJP is planning to strike a deal with Independents and smaller political outfits after the election, Ms Mufti said today that jailed MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party is a proxy of the BJP.

Engineer Rashid, as Sheikh Rashid is popularly known,  had contested in the general elections held earlier this year from jail and beat Omar Abdullah to win the Baramulla seat. Ms Mufti said while his victory is understandable, what is unclear is how he is funding his party and bringing it to prominence with multiple candidates in this election.

“Rashid is in jail. (PDP founder) Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) took 50 years to form the party, we still do not have resources to field candidates everywhere. Who is behind his (Engineer’s) organisation so their candidates are fielded everywhere? From where is the funding coming? From where are they getting such courage to engage in hooliganism?” she said a day after a PDP candidate was injured in an attack, allegedly by the workers of the Awami Ittehad Party.

“I want to ask the government — if you have again come up a proxy party, Engineer Rashid’s party, when all your other proxy parties have failed, you have brought Engineer Rashid’s party to the fore, and you are supporting them fully with funds and everything, then tell us clearly that others parties do not have to contest elections,” she said.

Yesterday, Mr Abdullah had said the BJP is keeping its doors open for post-poll alliance with parties such as People’s Conference and Awami Ittehad Party.

Jammu and Kashmir has seen an unprecedented spike in the number of Independent candidates in this election. For the first two phases, 145 candidates – 44 per cent of the total – are in fray.

Part of the reason is that these Independents are members of smaller political outfits not recognised by the Election Commission, although a few of them are registered outside Jammu and Kashmir. So the members of these parties are contesting as Independents.

Mehbooba Mufti said the people should not be influenced by these “proxy’ parties. “There is a huge power behind them who wants to divide the vote in Kashmir… They want to harm the cause of J&K,” said the former Chief Minister, who has said that she would not contest as long as J&K remains a Union Territory and its special status is not restored.

Elections will be held in the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly after a decade on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.

The Bijbehara constituency of Anantnag has been a bastion of Mufti family since 1990s. The Peoples Democratic Party – formed by Mehbooba Mufti’s father and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed — has been winning from this seat since 1996. This time, the third generation of the Mufti family – Mufti’s grand-daughter Iltija Mufti – is making her electoral debut from this constituency after her mother, Mehbooba Mufti declined to contest the election. 

Mehbooba Mufti has said that she would not contest as long as J&K remains a Union Territory and its special status is not restored.

The contest on September 18 will be three-cornered, but the main fight is expected to be between Iltija Mufti and National Conference’s Dr Bashir Veeri. The third candidate is BJPs Sufi Yousf. The number of candidates here is the lowest of any constituency in Kashmir. No Independent is in fray, even though 44 per cent of candidates contesting in the first and second phase of elections are Independents.

Iltija Mufti appears both confident and cautious about her election prospects as she flits between villages nestled amid apple orchards and gushing streams. The 37-year-old is trying to connect with people to carry forward the legacy of her grandfather.

Propaganda against dynastic politics doesn’t bother her, she said, because it is she who will be accepted or rejected by people during the election. “If the people accept me, fine. If they don’t, not a big deal,” she told reporters.  

But there was a subtle hint of what she thought of the contest: “I’m not complacent about elections… even if it is easy I don’t take it easy”.

Ms Mufti’s main rival is Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri, the National Conference candidate. A former legislator, Dr Veeri talks about local and livelihood issues along with his party’s larger political narrative. The scrapping of Article 370 and how it has impacted the people and their identity is central to the campaign of Omar Abdullah’s National Conference.

Iltija mufti’s candidates doesn’t make any difference to him, he said. 
“In 2014, there was a PDP wave, because they had set a narrative that if you want to stop the BJP, vote for PDP… this time it’s very favourable scenario for us,” he said. 

The PDP’s subsequent alliance with the BJP to form government in the erstwhile state had collapsed in 2018 as the BJP ended ties. A year later, the BJP scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir granted under the Constitution’s Article 370 and split the state into two Union Territories. This year’s election will be the first after a decade. 

The candidate from the BJP, which claims credit for helping Jammu and Kashmir turn over a new leaf – a positive one where the diktat of terrorists does not matter — said the people are quietly supporting him. 

Sofi Yousf said the people are supporting him as they are happy with the BJP for bringing peace in the Valley. The biggest mark of that change, he said, is that Jamaat-e-Islami has joined mainstream.

“Our regional party leaders have nothing to offer to people. They are only spreading lies,” he said. “My promise to people is development… these people have known me for last 25 years. I have been helping them… I promise the people Bijbehara that all those in jails will be released the way Rajnath Singh as Home Minister withdrew 12,000 cases against the young men,” he added.

Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said that her party is willing to support a Congress-National Conference (NC) alliance in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir elections, provided they are ready to accept the PDP’s agenda.

“The people of Jammu and Kashmir have given an answer to the BJP government from the Lok Sabha polls that there are issues in Jammu and Kasmir and by removing Article 370, it has become more complicated…Whenever we allied with any party we had a motive, an agenda—what we have to do…That’s why I said that if they (Congress) are ready to accept our agenda, we are ready to support them,” Mehbooba Mufti told reporters.

Earlier, on August 24, Mehbooba Mufti remarked that for her, the upcoming assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir is not about statehood or seat sharing but a “bigger goal.”

During a press conference to launch the PDP manifesto for the upcoming assembly polls, Mehbooba Mufti said, “For me, this election (upcoming Assembly elections in J&K) is not about statehood or seat sharing… We have a bigger goal… We are fighting for dignity, for resolution.”

She further noted that alliances and seat sharing “are distant considerations” and indicated that if the National Conference and Congress are willing to adopt her agenda, she would support them, as “solving the problem of Kashmir is more important than anything else.”

In their election manifesto, the PDP promised efforts to restore Articles 370 and 35A, initiate diplomatic dialogues between India and Pakistan, and ensure the dignified return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley.

Notably, in the 2014 Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP won 28 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 25, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference won 15, and the Congress won 12.

The PDP and BJP formed a coalition government led by Mehbooba Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. However, in 2018, the BJP withdrew its support from the alliance after Mehbooba Mufti took over following Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s demise.

Polling in Jammu and Kashmir will be conducted in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, according to the Election Commission of India. The counting of votes will take place on October 4.

These are the first assembly elections to be held in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said that for her, the upcoming assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir is not for statehood or seat sharing but for a “bigger goal.”

During the press conference for the launch of the PDP manifesto for the upcoming assembly polls, Mehbooba Mufti said, “For me, this election (upcoming Assembly elections in J&K) is not for statehood or seat sharing… We have a bigger goal… We are fighting for dignity, for the resolution.”

She further said that alliance and seat sharing “are faraway things” and stated that if the National Conference and Congress are ready to adopt her agenda, then she will support them because for her, “solving the problem of Kashmir is more important than anything else.”

She further criticised the alliance between Congress and the National Conference, stating that the alliance is formed not on agenda but seat-sharing.

“When we allied earlier, we had an agenda; when we allied with the BJP, we had an agenda which they agreed to but the alliance between the National Conference and Congress is not happening on the agenda; it is happening on seat sharing. We will not do any alliance in which there is only talk of seat sharing. The alliance should be on agenda and our agenda is to solve the problem of Jammu and Kashmir,” she said.

In their election manifesto, the PDP promised efforts to restore Articles 370 and 35A and diplomatic initiatives between India and Pakistan and ensure the dignified return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley.

According to the manifesto, the PDP “is resolute in its pursuit of restoring the constitutional guarantees that were unjustly scrapped and is committed to restoring Jammu & Kashmir to its original status, ensuring that the voices of its people are heard and their rights are safeguarded.”

The party also promised to advocate “diplomatic initiatives between India and Pakistan, emphasising conflict resolution, confidence-building measures, and regional cooperation” and the establishment of “full connectivity across the LoC for trade and social exchange.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

PDP chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari Tuesday quit the party ahead of the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

Suhail Bukhari told PTI he has quit the PDP, but he did not elaborate further. Suhail Bukhari was apparently miffed at not being given the mandate to contest the polls.

He had hoped to contest the polls from Wagoora-Kreeri, but the return of former minister Basharat Bukhari to the PDP last month diminished his chances of getting the ticket.

Suhail Bukhari, a journalist-turned-politician, was a close aide of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and had also served as her advisor when she was the chief minister

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jammu:

Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the graphic poster against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said BJP appears “frustrated” with Opposition’s INDIA bloc.

“It shows their frustration. They are frustrated with the INDIA alliance. They know their all tactics including Hindu-Muslim have failed. They talk about ‘Santana Dharma’. Does ‘Santana Dharma’ teach you to call your opponent ‘Ravan’? They meet Muslim leaders and visit Moques abroad but in this country they lynch Muslims. They have created Godse army in the country,” Ms Mufti said while addressing a press briefing.

Congress termed it ‘shameful’ after the BJP shared a graphic poster that prominently featured MP Rahul Gandhi with a bearded visage and seven heads, reminiscent of the mythical character Ravana.

“No words are enough to condemn the ‘shameful’ graphic on the BJP handle comparing Rahul Gandhi ji to Ravana. Their nefarious intentions are clear, they want to murder him. He lost his grandmother and father to assassinations. They withdrew his SPG protection to score petty political points,” Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said in a post on X.

The BJP had on Thursday shared the graphic poster on their official handle of the social media platform ‘X, and captioned it, “India is in Danger. He is Evil. Anti-Dharma. Anti-Ram. His aim is to destroy Bharat.”

The poster also linked the Congress leader to George Soros, a billionaire investor who has been accused of being involved in anti-India activities.

The graphic has ignited a debate on social media, with supporters and critics expressing various opinions about its symbolism and intent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jammu:

 Peoples Democratic Party Chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday condemned the Delhi police raids on the premises of NewsClick, saying, “speaking the truth in Amrit Kaal is the biggest crime”.

Speaking to ANI, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said, “We condemn it. In BJP’s ‘Amrit Kaal’, speaking the truth is the biggest crime.”

“They (NewsClick) were questioning the government. They were asking questions about the 2 crore jobs, Rs 15 lakh, which was to be deposited in the bank accounts of people, inflation, women athlete protests and the MP (Brij Bhushan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by female wrestlers) who is walking free,” she said.

She said, “It seems whoever dares to question the government is put behind bars or booked under UAPA”.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media in Bhubaneshwar, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the investigating agencies were doing their job.

“The investigating agencies are doing their job. If the agency has taken action, then it must have been based on evidence or a specific complaint,” the minister said.

Delhi police on Tuesday raided different premises linked to NewsClick in a case registered under UAPA on August 17.

The investigation, which is still underway was launched on the basis of information from central agencies. Sources also said that an FIR was filed at the New Delhi Range of Delhi Police special cell against NewsClick.

As part of the investigation, editor of NewsClick Prabir Purkayastha and writers Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Urmilesh were brought to the special cell offices in the national capital today.

Sources said that the first meeting before launching the crackdown was held by the top officials of the special cell on Monday (October 2). The meeting was attended by over 200 police personnel at 2 am at the special cell office in Lodhi colony.

Apart from Senior Officials, the mobile handsets of Junior officials were kept at the station, to hide any leaked information.

The special team carried out raids at more than 30 locations, sources said, adding that suspects were marked in the A, B, and C categories.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, teams of the Delhi Police special cell & Mumbai police conducted searches at the residence of activist Teesta Setalvad.

The raids are being conducted on a case registered on August 17 under UAPA and other sections of IPC, which include UAPA, 153A of IPC (promoting enmity between two groups), and 120 B of IPC (criminal conspiracy).

The raid team on Tuesday morning also reached at Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury’s residence to question his staffer Sri Narayan’s son Sunmit Kumar. The raid team seized the mobile, laptop, and hard drive of Sunmit Kumar, who works at NewsClick, sources said.

Earlier on August 10 a report in the New York Times had alleged that NewsClick was part of a global network that receives funding from American billionaire Neville Roy Singham.

Mr Singham is known as a socialist benefactor of far-left causes, and is at the centre of a lavishly funded influence campaign that defends China and pushes its propaganda. Neville Roy Singham is said to have close ties to the Chinese government media machine.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)