Express unhappiness over abrogation of Art 370 through your votes: Mehbooba

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti asked the voters of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday to register their unhappiness over the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution through their votes in the ongoing Lok Sabha election.

Addressing a roadside meeting in the Larkipora area of Anantnag district, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said, "This is not an Assembly election. This is not about whether the PDP, the National Conference or the Congress will win. This election is about sending a message that the decisions taken in 2019 and what followed are not acceptable to the people."

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370, which gave special rights to Jammu and Kashmir, in August 2019 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.

Mufti said Jammu and Kashmir has been through very tough times in the past and the present situation is also a difficult one.

"The people of Jammu and Kashmir have witnessed tough times in the past. Those did not last and neither will this (situation), but only if we fight it together through peaceful and democratic ways," she said.

Mufti said people might have been upset with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) for some time, but they do realise that the party has saved them from the task force, counter-insurgent Ikhwan group and POTA.

"It was during the tenure of (former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Mehbooba Mufti's father) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed that a new era of development was started, a dialogue process was started between India and Pakistan and there seemed to be some movement on key issues," she said.

The PDP president is contesting the Lok Sabha election from the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, where polling is scheduled to be held on May 7.