Advocating statehood, raising people’s issues DPAP’s agenda: Azad

Jammu, Apr 6 (PTI) Advocating restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and raising people’s issues, including land and job rights, are the agenda of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party, its chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Saturday. Addressing a public meeting in the Hiranagar area of Kathua in the Udhampur parliamentary constituency, from where senior leader G M Saroori is seeking election, the former J&K chief minister appealed to voters to carefully consider candidates who are committed to representing public interests in the Parliament.

“A strong presence in the Parliament is essential to advocate for the interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The people should unite and support DPAP’s efforts to secure statehood and protect their rights,” he said. Azad, who himself is fighting the Lok Sabha elections from Anantnag-Rajouri seat, highlighted his record of raising major issues in the Parliament as the leader of opposition during his long association with the Congress, contrasting it with the “silence of the members of Parliament from other parties (from J&K).”

“The other MPs have failed. What do you expect from them? If you need public issues to be raised, you should vote for our party, whose symbol is a bucket,” he said referring to the role of the National Conference MPs, including its president Farooq Abdullah, after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of J&K into two Union Territories in August 2019.

He reiterated his stance against the revocation of statehood and his efforts to safeguard land and job rights in the region. “We must reclaim our statehood and fight for our land and job rights in the Parliament. My sole purpose is to serve my people and that is why I have returned to my state,” Azad, who resigned from the Congress and formed his own party in September 2022, said.