Peoples Conference chief and Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) spokesman Sajad Lone on Thursday described the ongoing maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls as “a test for the alliance’s credibility and polity.”
“These polls are not only a test for the PAGD but also the people as well. For the people, the test is to rally collectively and amplify the real pain of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This is also a test for the polity of the PAGD,” Mr. Lone, who addressed public rallies in Kupwara’s Drugmulla and Rajwar areas, said.
In a show of unity within the alliance, Mr. Lone was seen campaigning for PDP candidates in the area.
He said the PAGD had emerged as the voice of the people. “Our deeds as representatives of the people will script the credibility quotient amongst the people,” he added.
Mr. Lone said he was worried that the alliance was confined to the top leadership. “On the ground, the leaders of respective constituent parties are behaving as if it is like previous times, as if nothing has changed. Local level bickering is a luxury that we just can’t afford. The top leadership will have to intervene,” he said, in an apparent crisis of many candidates from the political parties fighting against the alliance candidates.
Meanwhile, the Gupkar alliance is failing to generate a consensus on the seventh list of candidates for the ongoing polls.
“We don’t support any proxy candidates. There is no question of double speak about supporting the best candidate because the best candidate for Jammu and Kashmir is one who will fight to restore what was lost last year,” PAGD chairman Farooq Abdullah said.
National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah also chaired a meeting in Srinagar, where the party leaders claimed that money was being paid to voters to tilt elections “in an undemocratic way.”