Jammu & Kashmir Elections: Not criticising National Conference, only stating truth, says Mehbooba Mufti

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said she was only stating the truth and not criticising the National Conference when comparing the performances of the governments run by the two parties during their respective tenures. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was talking to reporters in Pulwama after Nazir Ahmad Dar, son of former minister Sona Ullah Dar, joined the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

"The PDP tells the truth. Look at the National Conference's governing period and compare it to ours. The National Conference governed Jammu and Kashmir for 40 out of 70 years. We had a third of the MLAs of the National Conference and yet look at our performance. There is no comparison," she said.

Mehbooba also hit out at the National Conference over its alliance with the BJP.


She said while the PDP's alliance with the BJP was issue-based, the National Conference's tie-up brought problems.

"(National Conference vice-president) Omar Abdullah was a minister in a BJP government. They brought POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) here, banned shahtoosh (shawls). They were advocating for an attack on Pakistan," Mehbooba said.

"When we formed the government with the BJP, there were certain conditions. Our government withdrew 12,000 FIRs, we brought a high-level delegation from Delhi to have a dialogue with the Hurriyat. We had a ceasefire," she added.

Mehbooba said the difference was evident by how the Omar Abdullah government handled the 2009 deaths of two women in Shopian and her government's handling of the "painful" Kathua rape and murder case.

"I dropped two sitting (BJP) ministers. This is not opposition, these are facts," she said.