Former Chief Minister and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said that she would have been the Chief Minister today if she had supported the BJP’s agenda, but she chose to stick to her own.
Talking to Kashmir News Service (KNS), she said that after the abrogation of Article 370, the BJP didn’t target any other party the way it targeted the PDP. “They were aware of our strength and the resistance we had shown during the coalition government. Had I backed the BJP’s agenda, I would have been Chief Minister today.”
She said that in a Union Territory, even Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister could take major decisions and stand with the people, but now the post has been reduced to fighting over transfers. “You have to argue with the Lieutenant Governor over petty matters like who gets posted where.”
“I believe there is still a lot of power left in the government. You can at least speak up. But when no one raises their voice, it becomes necessary for me to speak,” she said.
She added that she initially formed the PAGD (People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration) because the situation in the state demanded unity. “After 2019, I again tried for unity when the Waqf Bill was introduced. We should have had a collective stance so that the people of the country, especially minorities and Muslims, could see that the leadership of Jammu and Kashmir stood with them and was ready to support them.”
“But unfortunately, the role of the National Conference during the Waqf Bill issue was very disappointing,” she said. “Not only did they stop a resolution from being tabled in the Assembly, but both Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah personally welcomed the minister who brought the bill, at the Tulip Garden.”
“If we had been united, seeing leaders like Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on the same page could have given strength to the crores of Muslims in India. If power makes you so weak and cowardly, then I don’t think such power is worth having,” she added. (KNS)
