KV Correspondent

CM’s public durbars turn into a damp squib

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Srinagar: As the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti continues her ‘public durbar’ in Kashmir, complaints are pouring across Kashmir that the office bearers of the ruling PDP are acting as gatekeepers in the meetings.

Officials in districts have been given clear directions by the ruling PDP politicians that only those delegations should be allowed to meet Chief Minister which have the party’s approval, sources said.

“The PDP politicians are acting as gatekeepers along with the officials to screen the complaints and demands. It is more of a political show rather than an honest government initiative to reach out to the people,” said a local from Bandipora, where a public durbar was held on Sunday.

Local PDP politicians won’t allow delegations which are demanding any project, not in the interest of the party voters, he said.

Similar complaints came from Baramulla, where deputy commissioner Nasir Naqash’s office didn’t allow most of the people, who have not voted for the PDP, to meet Mehbooba on October 30.

“These meetings are nothing but a show to consolidate PDP’s voter base at the expense of State exchequer,” said an official, who is part of all the CM’s public durbars.

He said the development projects are approved in the public durbars on the basis of the PDP’s vote base and not taking into consideration the interest of general public.

Even the minutes of meetings prepared by the officials during the public durbar are scrutinized by the PDP politicians before making them public, officials said.

Meanwhile, senior National Conference leader Sakina Ittoo lashed out at the PDP-BJP Government for “wasting the State resources and time in conducting futile and meaningless photo-op exercises”.

Ittoo said, “These events are glorified party functions being held while using the resources and money of the Government. Our ration shops are without basic ration while the Chief Minister is wasting precious tax-payers’ money in disrupting the administrative system for her political photo-opportunities.”

The NC leader said one would have welcomed the public durbar, had the intention been noble and productive. “Unfortunately, these are purely PDP events with the bureaucracy and administration being instructed to work for workers and office-bearers of a particular political party”, Ittoo said.


KV Correspondent

Kashmir Correspondent cover all daily updates for the newspaper

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