Change in PDP's outlook made me leave party: Drabu

Former PDP leader Haseeb Drabu on Friday asserted that a "change in party's vision" had made him leave it after a long association.

Speaking to ANI, Drabu said, "The vision of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has changed specifically after the demise of (former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. This change came due to the party's new leadership. I still wish well for the party. I do not have any personal problem with the party but its new outlook."

Talking about his association with Mufti, he stated, "I came into politics because of him (Mufti). I worked with him as his economic advisor in 2003. He appreciated my work and brought me into the party. He is my mentor in this sphere. He started a party with different vision and ideology. We got to learn a lot from him. He had a vision and he aligned with BJP. I drafted the agenda of an alliance for the same. He had an agenda on which we were working but it has changed now."

On being asked about his political future, he said, "I haven't thought about it. I have also been a writer and would like to write without conflicting with the view of the party."

Drabu, who had played a key role in forging an alliance between PDP and BJP three years back, resigned from the party on Thursday.

Drabu, a former finance minister of Jammu and Kashmir had then said that his resignation "had been coming for a while now" as he had already "disengaged" himself from the party affairs for "quite some time now".