SRI NAGAR: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday appointed the party’s disgruntled leader and MP Muzaffar Hussain Baig as the patron of the party while, on the same day, former PDP MLA from Tangmarg Mohammad Abbas Wani resigned from the party.
Wani is the fourth ex-PDP MLA to quit the party after dissolution of State Assembly by Governor Satya Pal Malik last month. He is likely to join the Sajad Gani Lone-led People’s Conference. The PDP leaders, including former legislators, met party president Mehboob Mufti at her residence in Srinagar on Monday. The meeting was also attended by Baig.
Speculations were rife that Baig, whose wife Safina Baig is the president of women’s wing of the PDP, might quit the party as he came out in public against the party leadership on November 20. PDP spokesman Rafi Ahmed Mir said that the meeting discussed the party affairs and present political situation in the Valley.Party insiders said the decision to appoint Baig as patron is aimed at placating him and preventing further dissent in the party.