"We don't do anything chupke chupke": PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti
Sep 03, 2024
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 3 : Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Mehbooba Mufti dismissed conducting any negotiations with BJP in the run-up to Assembly elections in the UT.
"We don't do anything 'chupke chupke'. When we were talking to Ram Madhav, we did so openly. Devender Rana is saying all this now, but Ghulam sahib has been saying from before that they (NC) go and talk to them(BJP) in the night. Ram Madhav might have come but we have no contact with him," Mufti said.
National Conference (NC) defector and BJP leader Devender Singh Rana earlier claimed that NC leader and former J-K CM Omar Abdullah met with BJP leaders Amit Shah and Ram Madhav in 2014 to request the formation of a government with NC.
"Omar Abdullah is trying to mislead the people of Kashmir by telling them that every political party except the National Conference is with the BJP. In 2014, when I was a part of the National Conference, we knocked on every door asking people to form government with us as we had only 15 people. Omar Abdullah says that at the time they met Amit Shah and Ram Madhav to urge them to form the government with NC. As at the time BJP had declined NC's request, they are saying all this now," Devender Rana said while speaking to ANI on Monday.
Congress and the National Conference are fighting the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir together. According to a seat-sharing agreement, the National Conference (NC) will contest 51 of the 90 seats, and the Congress will contest 32. The two parties will also contest five seats against each other. One seat each has been allocated for CPI(M) and Panthers Party. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has also extended its support to the Congress and National Conference alliance in the J-K polls.
Jammu and Kashmir has 90 assembly constituencies, with 7 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 9 for Scheduled Tribes (STs). The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled to vote in three phases - September 18, 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will be on October 8. It is the first assembly poll since the abrogation of Article 370.
