One ‘rebel’ MLA attends PDP meet, several stay away
Srinagar, Sep 10: MLA Baramulla Javed Hassan Beg appeared on reconciliation course with Peoples Democratic Party today when he attended the party’s meeting about the Panchayat and Urban Local body elections.
Pertinently, Beg is one from a group of legislators who had opened a rebellion against party president Mehbooba Mufti’s leadership.
He is the only person among the ‘rebel group’ who attended the meeting of party’s senior leaders, legislators and parliamentarians at PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s residence today, a senior PDP leader said. Others despite being invited didn’t turn up for the meeting.
It was the first time that Beg attended any party meeting after the rebellion in the PDP.
The meeting, chaired by Mehbooba, was called to take a decision on whether the party should participate in Panchayat and urban local bodies (ULB) polls scheduled to be held from next month in Jammu and Kashmir.
MLA Pattan, Molvi Imran Ansari, MLA Gulmarg, Mohammad Abass Wani, MLA Zadibal, Molvi Abid Ansari, MLA Noorabad, Abdul Majid Paddar, all other rebel MLAs stayed away from the meeting.
Besides these MLAs, MLA Sangrama, Basharat Bukhari, MLA Rajpora, Haseeb Drabu too were not in the meeting.
MLA Amira Kadal, Altaf Bukhari missed the meeting as he was in New Delhi, sources said.
Beg was one of the seven legislators of the PDP who had openly rebelled against Mehbooba’s leadership immediately after the party’s coalition with the BJP fell apart. They had accused Mehbooba of nepotism.
In a press conference on July 13, Beg, accompanied by MLA Pattan Imran Ansari, MLA Noorabad Abdul Majid Padder and two MLCs, also accused Mehbooba of putting them and their families at risk by claiming that the internal rumblings in the party were being done at the behest of Delhi.
“One, she has tried to give an impression that the institution is up for sale that anyone can buy them. Second, she has tried to label us that we are dancing to someone’s tunes. This is like putting us before the lynching mob, this can put our families and workers at risk,” he had told reporters.
The party welcomed Beg’s attendance in the meeting, saying the legislator is “part of the PDP family”.
“He is part of the family and there are misunderstandings in every family and when someone in the family has any resentment or complaints, those are addressed. Whatever he had against the party, has been addressed and we welcome him,” a senior PDP leader said.
He said the party was hopeful that other dissident legislators would also return to the party fold.
“We are hopeful and we will try to get them back,” the leader said.
