Political process, governance have to be carried out together: Mehbooba Mufti

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti today said the political process and governance in the state have to be carried out simultaneously and asked her party workers to play their role in creating a congenial atmosphere for that.

"It has been the biggest success of our party to convince the stakeholders that the political process and governance in Jammu and Kashmir have to be carried out together.

"When the party was voted to power in 2002, it not only carried forward its development agenda, but the political process in the state took off, resulting in initiation of dialogue and many major state-specific confidence building measures," she told a gathering of PDP workers here.

The chief minister expressed regret that the state had to undergo a "political drought" after the PDP demitted office in 2005 and the whole process had to be "restarted from zero" in 2015 when her father and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took over the reins again.

"This was the biggest reason for the party to form the government in the state (with the BJP) so as to get the people out of the uncertainty which loomed large over them due to the political drought.

"In fact, much of the reason for the recent turmoil in the Valley lies in the fact that political engagement was discontinued after 2005 and no more state-specific confidence building measures took place afterwards," said Mehbooba.

The PDP president said when the party took over last year, "everything had to be started afresh".

"Development and dialogue were made prominent components of the Agenda of Alliance (PDP's common minimum programme with the BJP) and the government had just started to roll out its agenda.

"However, certain elements inimical to peace and development in the state worked to derail the process. The whole process got stuck due to the turmoil of the last five months during which not only the government, but every section of the society in Kashmir got affected and bruised," she said.

Mehbooba said though the delay in carrying forward the development process would be compensated, the lives lost and the setback the state's political process received were "irreparable".

She asked the party workers to make people aware of the "nefarious designs" of these "vested elements" who were only interested in "death and destruction in the state".

The chief minister asked the people to help her maintain peace in the state so that besides development, dialogue with all the stakeholders, opening of routes, more relief to the people and other state-specific measures could be undertaken.