Split wide open in PDP, meeting with detained chief Mehbooba deferred

JAMMU: Differences in the PDP over the issue of a party delegation meeting its detained president Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar came out in the open on Monday with a senior leader alleging that those involved in the decision did not take on board the leadership in Jammu.

The party, for now, has deferred the meeting with Mufti, who is currently under detention in Srinagar, hours after announcing on Sunday that a team of leaders would see her on Monday.

While, no reason was given for the development on Sunday, the split in party came out in public on Monday.

On Sunday, former PDP legislator and spokesperson Firdous Tak had announced that its leaders have been granted permission by State Administration to meet Mehbooba in Srinagar and that a delegation led by General Secretary Ved Mahajan will meet Mufti who has been detained since August 5, the day the Centre announced abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.

On Sunday night, PDP decided to defer the scheduled visit to Srinagar, without giving any reason for the sudden decision.

Sources within the party, however, had said the visit was deferred because of lack of unanimity on the composition of the delegation.

On Monday, PDP General Secretary and former member of legislative council Surinder Choudhary alleged that some "land grabbers and land mafia" within the party have taken the decision on the meeting.

"They are not the well wishers of the party and have in fact destroyed its base in Jammu," Choudhary told reporters.

"I do not know where the (PDP) meeting took place and who took this decision (sending a delegation to meet Mehbooba). I visited Kashmir twice after the abrogation of Article 370 to meet Mehbooba but was denied permission by local authorities," Choudhary said.

He said PDP is not the National Conference's 'B team' to follow its footsteps.

"Why no meeting was convened to discuss the prevailing situation post abrogation of Article 370.

"Kashmir is shut, people in Ladakh are not satisfied and Jammu region has its own grievances after facing discrimination over the past 70 years," he said.

He also questioned the timing of the meeting.

"How did they ignore these festivals to plan a visit of the delegation to Srinagar?" he asked.

"Those who have taken this decision are in fact land grabbers and land mafia who have destroyed the party in Jammu and do not even guarantee vote of their own spouses to the party," he alleged.

"What stopped them from visiting the party president... they are basically afraid (of action by the state administration) because of their misdeeds," he said.

Another PDP leader, who did not wish to be named, said the party will meet shortly to decide the new schedule.

"The visit has only been deferred and not cancelled," he said.

The PDP's announcement that it has been permitted to meet Mehbooba had come on a day when a 15-member delegation of the National Conference from Jammu met their party president Farooq Abdullah and vice president Omar Abdullah in Srinagar for the first time since their detention.

The NC delegation discussed developments in the state and upcoming local body polls during the separate meetings with the two leaders.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had given permission to the delegation to meet the leaders.