Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti has announced that her party will extend full support to the Congress-NC alliance in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, only if the coalition is willing to accept the PDP’s agenda.
Additionally, Mehbooba has ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the BJP, with whom the PDP had previously formed a government.
“Forget about alliance and seat-sharing, if the Congress and the National Conference (NC) are ready to accept our agenda — that resolution of the Kashmir issue is necessary and on opening of routes — we will tell them to contest on all the seats and we will follow you,” she said.
“Because, for me, the resolution of the Kashmir problem is much more important than anything else,” Mufti responded to the question by saying that she added that the Congress had indeed approached the PDP for an alliance.
Mehbooba Mufti spoke to reporters following the release of the PDP’s manifesto for the upcoming assembly elections. At the same time, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah announced a pre-poll alliance with Congress for the Jammu and Kashmir elections, the first since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
The 90-seat assembly election will be conducted in three phases—on September 18, September 25, and October 1—with vote counting set for October 4.
Mehbooba, who leads the PDP, stressed that her party’s main focus is on upholding the dignity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, which she argued is currently being disregarded.
“Whether you give me three or four seats, it does not mean anything to me. When we entered into an alliance with either the Congress or the BJP, it was on our agenda. The NC and the Congress have not entered into an alliance on any agenda but for seat-sharing and we will not talk of such an alliance, which only talks about seat-sharing,” she said.
“Our alliance should be based on an agenda and our agenda is to find the resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue… No doubt within the Constitution of this country but a resolution,” she added.
Mehbooba Mufti clarified that there is no possibility of a post-poll alliance with the BJP, stating that the PDP had only joined hands with the BJP-led government, not the party itself, and had conditionally agreed to support the government as long as they did not touch Article 370.
The PDP’s manifesto pledges to pursue the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, as well as advocating for diplomatic efforts between India and Pakistan. Additionally, the party aims to establish full connectivity across the Line of Control (LoC) to facilitate trade and social exchange.
The last Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir took place in November 2014, leading to the formation of a coalition government between the PDP and BJP, headed by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. After his death in 2016, his daughter Mehbooba became the chief minister of the coalition.
In June 2018, the BJP withdrew from the government, and the state was placed under governor’s rule. On August 5, 2019, the BJP-led central government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, splitting the former state into two Union territories – Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.