Three PDP leaders ‘resign’ from party
Srinagar: Three PDP leaders from the Jammu region resigned from the party following a statement by its president Mehbooba Mufti regarding the national flag, PDP sources said here on Monday.
Senior leaders T S Bajwa, Hassan Ali Waffa and Ved Mahajan have resigned from the PDP, they said.
The trio was unhappy with Mehbooba’s statement about not holding the tricolour till Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, including its separate state flag, is restored, the sources said.
BJP leaders have hit out at Mehbooba for her remarks, saying seditious statements will not be tolerated.
Mehbooba on Friday had said she was not interested in contesting elections or holding the tricolour till the constitutional changes enforced on August 5 last year were rolled back.
The PDP leader and former chief minister had also said that she would hold the tricolour only when the separate flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was restored.
The Centre on August 5 last year had abrogated the erstwhile state’s special status and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Party sources however, said that a letter shot by the trio to party Chief Mehbooba Mufti stated they are “feeling quite uncomfortable over some of her actions and undesirable utterances especially which hurt patriotic sentiments”.
Party leader TS Bajwa refuted the “resignation” news reports, saying he along with other two party leaders being a family members of the party put forth some issues to the notice of party president Mehbooba Mufti.
“We have some disagreements on several issues that we took up in the letter and sent it to Mehbooba Ji. We want to set things right in PDP family”, Singh said.
He however refuted the news reports of resigning from the party. “We have not so far resigned. If any decision regarding quit will be decided, it will be communicated to the media through press conference”, he added. (with inputs from PTI)
Press Trust of India
