SRINAGAR: After the recent internal wrangling in the Kashmir unit of BJP over interference of Jammu leaders, the saffron party has issued a show cause notice of senior party leader and former MLC Sofi Yousuf, who is the founding member of the party in Valley, for alleged anti-party activities.
Sofi, who had joined the party in 1996, said he would quit the party but wouldn’t allow anybody to hijack Kashmir unity of the party.
In the show cause notice issued by the chairman of Disciplinary Committee J&K BJP Sunil Sharma, Yousuf has been accused of indulging in anti-party activities and showing marked indiscipline in political dealings.
“You have tried to create dissent in the party cadre with few more persons and now your audio recording clip has surfaced whose contents depict that you have no regard for party discipline and high principles which are the basis of the political ideology of the party,” reads the show cause notice.
The notice asked Yousuf to submit the reply on his misconduct and indiscipline to the party within seven days as to “why the action of removing you from all positions of the party may not be taken in addition to any permissible action”.
Yousuf has also been directed not to interact with the media directly or indirectly on any issue including these proceedings till the proceedings are pending.
Yousuf is the founding member of BJP and joined the saffron party in 1996 when militancy was at its peak in Kashmir.
Talking to The New Indian Express, Yousuf said he would reply to the notice accordingly within a few days.
“I am the party karyakarta and have not indulged in anti-party activities. I have not done anything wrong,” he said. “The party is our parivaar and we have every right to put our grievances before the party”.
The BJP in J&K is facing internal wrangling in the Kashmir unit as over 100 party leaders and senior workers including Yousuf had alleged that they are being ignored and there is an attempt to hijack the Kashmir unit by the Jammu-based leaders.
The disgruntled BJP leader and workers, who stood with the party even after scrapping of Article 70, had a marathon meeting in a hotel in Srinagar with J&K party chief Ravindra Raina to apprise him of their grievances.
“I stick by my stand. We have given blood for BJP and the party belongs to all of us. However, I will not let anybody hijack the Kashmir unit of the BJP and if that happens then I will leave the party,” Yousuf said.
He, however, expressed the hope that the issues would be solved amicably within the party.