MLA Ansari walks out of PDP meeting, lashes out at Minister

SHABIR AHMAD

SRINAGAR: A Peoples Democratic Party MLA created high velocity scene at a party meeting here today when he turned unkind to a senior Minister and left in huff to register his protest. Zadibal MLA Abid Ansari, who has been critical of Works Minister Naeem Akhtar, ever since his nephew Imran Ansari resigned as Minister to protest allocation of 'lighter portfolio', today once again trained his guns at Akhtar. It happened at a meeting which was convened to discuss strategy for ongoing Lok Sabha polls. The development took place soon after Akhter entered into the meeting hall and it was announced that he is in charge of Assembly constituencies of Srinagar. Abid Ansari left the meeting while Muhammad Altaf Bukhari and Aasiya Naqash were also absent. However, the meeting was conducted without Abid's participation. "I staged walk out to protest against the presence of senior PDP leader and PWD minister Naeem Akhtar in the meeting," Ansari told The News Now. "I can't sit with a person who is hell bent to destroy the party. So I walked out in protest at today's meeting," he said. Akhtar, a member of legislative council, has not fought elections as yet. But being a close confidant of PDP patron late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, he was assigned the important portfolio of education. Though as an education minister he brought significant and innovative changes in the state's school system, yet controversial engulfed his tenure. Mehbooba has assigned the Public Works portfolio to Akhtar.
A senior PDP leader, who was the part of meeting said that MLC Saif-u-Din Bhat also staged a walk out. He said that Ansari told the gathering that Akhter has never contested the elections. "How can I work under him being an MLA ?," the leader quoted Ansari saying.
However, Ansari's uncle, Imran Raza Ansari, who is the in charge of Srinagar-Budgam constituency, presided over the meeting. Nazir Ahmed Khan has been fielded as PDP candidate for constituency and he has close contest with National Conference, President, Dr Farooq Abdullah.
Abid who is uncle of Imran Raza Ansari, who resigned as cabinet minister-had earlier accused Akhtar of being on a mission to ruin PDP. The storm within PDP, Abid has said, also puts a question mark on party's prospects in upcoming parliamentary polls, municipal and Panchayat elections.
In February after reshuffle in cabinet and re-induction of Altaf Bukhari has exposed the fragility within PDP, when two senior cabinet ministers Basharat Bukhari, divested from the portfolio of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Relief and assigned Horticulture and Imran Raza Ansari, Sports and Science and Technology Minister resigned. Workers of another PDP legislator, Abdul Majid Padder were protesting demanding cabinet berth for their constituency representative.
"I will leave my assembly seat and leave Kashmir, if Akhtar manages to get 200 votes against me," Abid had challenged Akhter, after resignation on Imran Raza Ansari.