National Conference must rise to expectations of people who voted for it: PDP

Srinagar, Mar 2 (PTI) The PDP on Sunday said the ruling National Conference (NC) must rise to expectations of the people who voted for it in the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

The PDP, in its monthly newsletter ‘Speak Up’, said a “bitter disillusionment” has settled as a BJP MLA was “brazenly dictating” terms to Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather.

“When the National Conference (NC) reclaimed power in 2024, the people of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir saw a glimmer of possibility after a decade of political limbo. With 42 seats and a coalition tally of 49, the NC’s victory promised a government that would stand firm for its constituents.

“Yet, as the Legislative Assembly prepares for its Budget Session on March 3, a bitter disillusionment has settled in. The sight of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator brazenly dictating terms to Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather — and by extension, the NC-led government — is not just a slight to the Speaker’s chair. It’s a wound inflicted on the very soul of Jammu & Kashmir’s people,” the PDP said.

It said the episode unfolded during an all-party meeting on February 26, when Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma demanded that Rather block any resolutions or Bills deemed “unconstitutional or anti-national” in the upcoming session.

“With 29 seats rooted in Jammu, the BJP flexed its muscle, attempting to gag debate before it even begins – a chilling echo of last November, when their protests against the Article 370 restoration resolution turned the House into a battlefield.

“This isn’t mere opposition posturing; it’s an opposition party presuming to govern, issuing edicts to a Speaker who should answer to the people, not a single faction’s agenda. And where is the NC in this storm? Silent, faltering, absent when their constituents needed them most,” it added.

The party also hit out at the Speaker, saying the NC stalwart offers “platitudes of cooperation but no steel to rebuff this overreach”.

“What message does this send to the farmer in Anantnag, the trader in Srinagar, the youth in Poonch? That their elected leaders can’t or won’t stand up to a party that thrives on stifling their story?” the PDP asked.