Handwara: Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Gani Lone today toured Kupwara to campaign for the PAGD candidates in Drugmulla and Rajwar. He became perhaps one of the first top leaders to campaign in a DDC constituency allotted to other party.
Addressing a massive gathering at Zachaldara Rajwar, Lone exhorted people to vote for the PAGD candidates. He, however, cautioned that these polls are not only a test for PAGD but the people as well. For the people the test is to rally collectively and amplify the real pain of the people of J and K.
While sounding a note of caution, Lone said that this is also a test for the polity, especially the PAGD. “The PAGD has emerged as the voice of the people and our deeds as representatives of the people will script the credibility quotient amongst the people.”
He said he was worried that the alliance is in many cases confined to the top leadership. “On the ground the leaders of respective constituent parties are behaving as if it is like previous times, as if nothing has changed, as if nothing has been eroded, as if we are still a state. Local-level bickering is a luxury which we just can’t afford. The top leadership will have to intervene. We are facing a test,” Lone said.
Asserting that people see alliance rules being flouted on the ground, he said that respective parties must restrain those flouting alliance mandates.
“I have been asked by the people that ‘if we can’t trust the PAGD in DDC polls how can we trust the alliance on issues like Article 370’. And people are bound to ask questions. We should close ranks and top leadership of respective parties must intervene on those flouting alliance mandates. The need of the hour is to take strict disciplinary action against those who have flaunted rules on the ground. This is a luxury we cannot afford at any cost,” he concluded.
