SRINAGAR: Senior PDP leader and former minister Imran Raza Ansari in a surprising move targeted the PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti by accusing her of being‘incompetent’, which he said, led to the fall of the government.
Speaking to media, the former minister said that Mehbooba not only failed the PDP as a party but also dashes down the hopes and the dreams of her own father and the PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had envisaged while founding the party.
Rubbishing the blames against BJP for pulling the government down, Ansari said that it was instead Mehbooba’s failure to lead the government efficiently.
Ansari alleged that PDP and the government had off late been reduced to a family opera where the brothers, the uncles, the aunties and other relatives would play the protagonist and continue with such a party was not only useless but a humiliation too.
Terming Peoples democratic party PDP as the family democratic party, Ansari said the party hijacked by a few which is not acceptable anymore.
Imran said the family rule should end in the party or else it would be difficult for him to continue in it.
“There is no point for us to continue in this party,” he said, adding that he was not averse to joining any other party which was keen to work for the betterment of Jammu and Kashmir and ends the “family rule”.
“For the sake of people, I can change fifty parties,” Ansari said when asked about if his utterances would mean joining any other party.
Imran said he was ready for elections any time as he was in the assembly and the cabinet due to the support of the people. “We have not come from the back door, we have people’s support. Let there be elections, we are ready,” he added.
He said that BJP supported the coalition government wholeheartedly and it was because of their endeavours that huge resources were released to the state for various developmental activities, however, Mehbooba’s ‘incompetence’ as a leader resulted in the failure of the government.
Ansari said that he has now decided to distance himself from the party where the opinion of the senior leaders doesn’t carry any meaning. He, however, added that he has not resigned as a legislator or from the basic membership of the party as of now, but clarified that the party has lost its essence and being called the leader of such a party was itself meaningless.
When asked if he has conveyed his dissent to the party president, Ansari said: “when the party is not in-order at first place, why should one convey decisions to the president.”
Imran’s utterances came a day after his uncle and another PDP legislator Abid Ansari made similar remarks about Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday giving a hint that everything was not going well in the party which resulted in the fall of the government.
This is not, however, for the first time that the two Shia leaders – uncle and the nephew, led the banner of revolt in the PDP. Earlier, Abid Ansari named a number of individuals in the party for the failure of the government. Later, Imran resigned as minister and stayed away for many months. Finally, he joined his job and eventually was given a different ministry in the last reshuffle.
MLA Tangmarg Mohammad Abbas backing Ansari said that PDP has been hijacked by a few leaders which is unacceptable.
Abbas claimed that Imran Ansari helped PDP win many seats in the previous elections but nobody seemed to honour his contributions in making PDP the single largest party in the state. He lashed out at the PDP and criticized the policies that were adopted by the former chief Minster.
Abbas added that he is not afraid of re-election and will go where ever Imran Ansari goes.
He also alleged that the PDP was gripped in favoritism thereby provided the top positions to their relatives.
The open revolt by three lawmakers has already reduced the PDP from its top slot publicly. The party has 28 berths in the house and three rebels have effectively dented its strength and reduced it to 25, a number equal to BJP. However, the trio having contiguous assembly segments continue to be the PDP lawmakers as none of them has, so far, resigned.
