PDP's brush with hard times far from over

Srinagar: Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) launched in 1999 mainly as a stratagem to brazen out National Conference (NC) is in deep trouble. The crisis set off by open rebellion by several key faces including lawmakers of the PDP following the collapse of Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government on June 19 is growing deeper.

Last week, the party’s vice president Muhammad Sartaj Madni quit after being asked to do so by Ms Mufti who was facing severe criticism for her allegedly promoting nepotism within the party and also as chief minister. Mr Madni is her maternal uncle and has been accused of corruption and misusing his position and family bond with Ms Mufti to serve his own interests.

The other person who has been the target of the rebels is Ms Mufti’s brother Tassaduq Hussain. He was, within less than one year after joining the PDP, made a Cabinet rank minister and given important portfolio of tourism, much to the discomfiture of several senior party men aspiring to become ministers.

Imran Reza Ansari, Shia cleric and former minister who was the first to raise the banner of revolt against Ms Mufti, had days after the fall of the government publicly said, “Ever since Mehboobaji took over we do see mamaji, tayaji and bhai sahib ruling the roost”.

Though many Mufti loyalists reject Mr Ansari’s criticism as “share opportunism” on the premise that while in power he would pretend to be Mufti aficionado but turned “venomous” soon after losing chair. They seek to trace his “duplicity” in Ms Mufti’s applying ‘check and balance’ principle on him and refusing to succumb to the “pressure tactics” applied by him from time to time to accord him portfolios of his choice and also make his uncle Aabid Ansari a minister.

Mr Ansari, however, insists that he would candidly differ with Ms Mufti on issues even when in power and had repeatedly warned her that promoting nepotism in the party will only ruin its prospects and widen the gulf between it and the people. “Instead of listening to logic she chose to humiliate me every time,” he said.

Nevertheless, the Ansaris have been joined by half a dozen other legislators in their chorus against Ms Mufti. The Ansaris are telling people privately that more than half of PDP’s 28 MLAs have vowed their support to them for any move aimed at bringing to an end “khandani raaj (family rule) in the party. Endorsing them, Yasir Reshi who is a member of the Legislative Council said, “There’s urgent need of looking for an alternative to the tradition of family rule in Jammu and Kashmir”.  

Some enthusiasts around the rebels see the bustle as a prelude to their joining hands with the BJP to form a new government in the state. The inevitable, as per their guess, will happen after the two-month long Amarnath yatra concludes in the last week of August. But the constitutional experts say that the State’s tough anti-defection law makes such exploit unattainable. BJP’s national general secretary Ram Madhav has also said that it is not in the race of forming a new government.

Amid speculations that the BJP is with its ally and former minister from its quota Sajad Gani Lone trying to engineer defections in the PDP to garner the support of required number of MLAs to stake claim to form a new government, Ms Mufti warned the Centre that any attempt to weaken the PDP by causing defections in it will have dangerous consequences for the State as it may give birth to new militant leaders as did happen in 1987 in the aftermath of alleged rigging in Assembly elections. She also alleged that the government is misusing the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to pressurise her party MLAs to walk out on her. While the BJP termed the charges as her “frustration”, the rebels said that her claims and harangue were “erroneous” and “tantamount to blackmailing”.

Charges and counter-charges apart, Ms Mufti is facing serious defiance in her party. It was after receiving feedback from her party men and also some of the disgruntled MLAs asking her to get rid of the likes of Mr Madni that she sought his resignation earlier this month.   This was following by submitting of resignations by all office-bearers of the party to pave the way for its restructuring.