SRI NAGAR: Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, Lok Sabha member from Baramulla-Kupwara in north Kashmir, is all set to part ways with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), of which he was a founding member.
Hitting out at the party for boycotting the recent urban local bodies (ULB) and panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Baig hinted at quitting the party and joining the ‘third front’ that may emerge in the state.
“It won’t be easy for me to resign from the party I founded. I will have to think over it before taking a decision,” he said at a press conference here. Baig said he was hurt and disillusioned by the way matters were handled by the PDP brass, the failure of alliance with the BJP and the party copying the National Conference (NC) to boycott the ULB and panchayat polls.
Asked if the press conference was his first step towards moving out of the PDP, Baig said, “It could be! It depends on the other side (PDP). If they stop aping NC, which is responsible for the rise of militancy in 1987, then it is one thing. If they don’t…, then I will have to think of another choice.”
Claiming he was not consulted by the party on a boycott of polls, he said, “PDP has betrayed its own MLAs by… depriving them connectivity with the people… NC founder Sheikh Abdullah had also boycotted polls, but realised his fault and joined the mainstream and contested elections.”Asked whether he would be part of the front that separatist-turned-mainstream politician Sajjad Lone was trying to cobble up, Baig said, “It is premature to say anything at this time. However, if it emerges, I will seriously consider joining it.”