3 min readSrinagarApr 12, 2026 08:17 PM IST
Following its rout in the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has started a campaign to connect with the grassroots, with party president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti helming the effort.
On Sunday, Mufti addressed the second public rally of the campaign in south Kashmir’s Pulwama, a PDP stronghold represented by Waheed Para, one of the party’s three members in the 90-seat Assembly.
In her address, the PDP chief took on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, accusing him of “failing the people” of Jammu and Kashmir. “What were you thinking? That the youth will be safeguarded, they will get employment, and the youth languishing in jails will be freed or at least brought back to Kashmir from Tihar, Punjab and Haryana so that their poor families can meet them?” Mufti asked, adding, “When you people decided (to vote for the National Conference), we felt bad, but we were satisfied that your vote for one party may resolve the issues of the people.”
Mufti said the Chief Minister has preferred silence. “In Jammu, our non-Muslims decided to vote for the BJP because it is a Hindu party. The Muslims unanimously decided to vote for this party (the NC). They thought that the grandson of Sheikh (Mohammad Abdullah) Sahib would stand not only for the people of Jammu and Kashmir but also for the Muslims of India. He will talk not of the people of Jammu and Kashmir but the Muslims of India. But when the Waqf Bill came, he was silent. When Waqf property was seized, he (Omar Abdullah) didn’t allow a resolution in the Assembly. Recently, an order was issued that people associated with mosques should give their names, addresses and bank accounts, but he opted for silence. Today, nobody is ready to be part of the mosque committee because of fear. You voted for them to end this fear, but it has not,” she said.
“God forbid, we don’t want that he (Omar Abdullah) should behave with the non-Muslims the way the BJP is behaving with the Muslims. But we thought that since he is the Chief Minister of the only Muslim-majority state, he would safeguard our rights,” she added.
She claimed that when her party questions the CM about election promises, he retorts by linking the PDP with the BJP.
“When we ask about the 12 free gas cylinders, he says PDP-BJP; when we ask about 200 units of free electricity, he answers with PDP-BJP,” Mufti said, adding, “We formed a government with the BJP, not just for making a government, but for you. When we had to make a government, if Omar sahib had come to us, we would have made it. We made it (with the BJP) so that (Article) 370 is not touched. I released 12,000 youths. I got two AIIMS for Jammu and Kashmir when every state got only one. I got a delegation to talk to the Hurriyat…”
