Sajad Lone makes it big on J&K’s political scene; Bukhari, Mansoor, Alam join PC

Srinagar: In a significant political development, Peoples Conference led by Sajad Lone Monday received a major boost as some of the top political leaders —Syed Basharat Bukhari, Peerzada Mansoor Hussain and Khurshid Alam – today joined the party amid a rousing reception.

Addressing the press conference, Mr Sajad said that ‘he welcomes all the three senior political leaders in the party fold with open heart and is hopeful that their the huge political experience of the trio will help the party serve in a better way.’

“I welcome three top political leaders into the PC, which is a caravan of change,” Sajad said as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO). “The trio who have loads of political experience will play a pivotal role in making the PC more vibrant across J&K.”

Mr Sajad said that the entry of Bukhari, Mansoor and Alam will help PC deal with the prevailing “extraordinary situation” and also play a constructive role to navigate through troubled waters. “They have been ministers, MLAs and MLCs. I am hopeful that PC will gain a lot out of their experiences,” a visibly upbeat Mr Sajad said.

To a query about restoration of Article 370, Sajad said that he doesn’t believe in lies and rather likes to speak candidly. “Let me tell you honestly that there are only two ways of getting Article 370 back—Judiciary or the Parliament. We were the first party to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court. That seems to be a long battle. Beyond this, we can’t even dream of getting it back. On the other hand, we need to engage with the people of India by removing all bottlenecks of miscommunication. We need to meet opposition, people in government and civil society,” the PC chief said. “There is a space. Mission is difficult but not impossible.”

Pertinently, a few days ago, former deputy chief minister of erstwhile J&K and the senior most PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh also joined the PC.

About the Sopore attack where a municipal councilor and a policeman were killed, Sajad said: “Such acts can only be carried out by the enemies of Kashmir. We have always condemned such attacks.”

Speaking on the occasion, Basharat Bukhari and Peer Mansoor Husain said they were happy to join PC as they believe by joining the party they can serve the people in a much better way. “I want to say here that I had a great experience for being part of NC for almost over two years. I was happy there, but at times you are being made accountable to even your own family members. There is nothing wrong in moving from one party to another for growth,” Bukhari said.

Mansoor termed Sajad as a man of principles, who has “out of box ideas.”

“I met Sajad sahib in jail and had a great time to understand him. Perhaps I am the first person to join PC from South Kashmir,” said Mansoor. Alam, however, preferred not to speak on the occasion. Mansoor was considered as a close confidant of PDP chief Mehbooba, while Alam too was the most trusted leader of PDP chief. —(KNO)