Former J-K minister Mohammad Ashraf Mir resigns from primary membership of PDP

Jammu and Kashmir former Minister and MLA Mohammad Ashraf Mir resigned from the primary membership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday.

In another political development in the Union Territory, former PDP leader Altaf Bukhari on Saturday was unanimously elected as the president of 'Apni Party' scheduled to be launched in Srinagar on Sunday.

Bukhari is seconded by former legislator Ghulam Hassan Mir and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Vijay Bakaya, along with more than 30 former legislators.

Earlier today, the former PDP leader had told ANI that the party will be formally launched at 2 pm in Srinagar on Sunday.

Sources said that the main focus of the party will be the politics of development and that the outfit will have representatives from Jammu and Kashmir, while it is also likely to include the Kashmiri Pandits.

The development has come more than six months after the Indian government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources close to Altaf Bukhari said that the party will be "pragmatic and rational" in its approach, with its focus on the socio-economic and political development for the people of the region, and will aim at the "decentralisation of power" in the region, following the abrogation of Article 370.

The formation of a political outfit by a former PDP leader -- with the inclusion of leaders from the PDP and NC, and representation from pan Jammu and Kashmir -- could be seen as the beginning of the political process in the region outside of the "family rule party system.