Srinagar: A day after The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of six political parties fighting for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, bagged majority of seats in District Development Council (DDC) elections, its key leader Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday slammed the BJP for deploying coercive methods to handle opposition.
Addressing a press conference at her Gupkar, the former chief minister asked BJP to fight her politically instead of deploying the state’s machinery which it has been using to cow down her ever since the BJP terminated its alliance with the PDP in 2018.
“They (BJP) don’t fight me politically instead they deploy NIA, CBI, and ED. I know it won’t yield them anything. They have gone to the extent that they investigated the funding of my father’s graveyard…. They treat NIA, CBI, the way they want,” she said.
Mehbooba was referring to the Enforcement Directorate’s move to attach PAGD head’s property in a case related to cricket scam, her close aide’s detention by National Investigating Agency and arrest of her party leaders before the election results were declared.
“They also tried to frame me in terror funding. And after their failure, they reached out to me through Waheed… We used to help families of militants who were killed through bank accounts during Mufti sahib’s first tenure but connecting me to militancy is uncalled for,” she added.
She also called them “cowards” because the strategy they deployed to fight her yielded nothing. “Two years ago, they wrote an obituary of my party, and DDC elections gave them a befitting reply,” she said. The response is that of 60 candidates, PDP bagged 30 which is far better than the performance of BJP.
Mehbooba also said that she will keep on talking about the issues Kashmir faces irrespective of its costs.
“For the dignity of J&K, I won’t remain silent. May be they will arrest me as our many leaders have been arrested already. This can be my last press conference also but I won’t budge,” she added.
She also criticised DC Srinagar and police, who don’t come up with any written order under which they claim to bar and arrest the PAGD leaders.
She also seconded Kolkata chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee for taking against the BJP’s policies.

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Junaid Nabi Bazaz