Go to people to strengthen PDP, Mehbooba tells party workers

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday asked party workers to go back to the people in the state to help strengthen the party instead of speaking about government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Mufti sahib preferred public service and principles over power. We will work with renewed vigour to carry forward the vision of peace and development that the great leader left behind as a practical and inclusive agenda for resolving the issues facing Jammu and Kashmir," she told a party workers' convention here.

"Our party patron (late chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) has left no property, but his legacy of the more than half a century of public service comprise his ideas and the party that he established to give democracy its real competitive edge," the PDP leader said.

She said the party needed to strengthened at the grass-roots level. "Go to the masses and carry forward the mission with renewed vigour, zeal and enthusiasm, which will be the biggest tribute to the great leader", she said while announcing that her party will soon launch a statewide membership drive.

She said Sayeed not only changed the dynamics of politics but set new benchmarks in governance itself.

"Though during his political career of around half a century, he remained in power for only 10 to 12 years he set new standards of transparency and accountability," Mehbooba Mufti said.

"The achievements on political, economic and development fronts during his three-year tenure as chief minister before 2015 have no match in the political history of Jammu and Kashmir," she said.

"His 2002-2005 term is still considered a golden era in Jammu and Kashmir. He is known for his performance, sincerity, accountability, transparency and delivery."

"We were part of the Congress when Mufti sahib decided to form a new party (PDP) in order to provide a regional alternative to the people. We were comfortable within the largest political party of the country but he (Mufti) sacrificed power for the interest of people," Mehbooba Mufti said.

The state is without an elected government since January 7 when Sayeed passed away in New Delhi. Governor's rule was imposed in the state on January 8.

Governor N.N.Vohra on Thursday appointed two retired IAS officers as his advisors, a move seen as another indication that Jammu and Kashmir might remain without an elected government for long.