Hours after Peoples Democratic Party sacked him as district president of Bandipora on Thursday Yasir Reshi appeared sticking to his guns saying if he was being punished for raising “critical issues” confronting the shaky party it should be an “eye-opener” for others.
Reshi, a member of legislative council, was removed from the post days after his remarks that there was a need to find an “alternative to two-family system” in J&K.
The party’s district president for Baramulla, Irshad Rasool Kar has been assigned the charge of Bandipore for the time being.
Reshi is one of the six party legislators who revolted against the leadership, accusing it of “nepotism and family raj” within the PDP.
“If the decision has been taken to replace me with somebody who will work harder than me then it is acceptable to me. But if I have been removed for raising the issues then it proves me right that there is two-family system in J&K,” said Reshi.
“It is also a signal to the Prime Minister about the kind of democracy we have here”.
On July 7, Reshi issued a statement saying he was in “complete conformity” with views expressed by his rebel colleagues to find an alternative to traditional two-family system, a reference to Muftis of PDP and Abdullahs of the National Conference.
Apart from five MLAs, Abid Ansari, his nephew and former minister Imarn Ansari, Javaid Beigh, Muhammad Abbas Wani and Abdul Majid Padder revolted against the party leadership.
“The state needs respite from tried, tested and failed two-family power-sharing model,” Reshi had said, adding need of the hour was to rise to occasion collectively, cutting across party lines, build a consensus on a leadership which has capacity to counter challenges of governance, law and “societal distress” in the state.
A two-time MLC, Reshi joined PDP in 2008 ahead of the state elections and on the same day, according to him, he was approved to stand for election from Sonawari constituency which he lost.
“I am a ground worker and have been working among people. I have worked tirelessly to strengthen the party within the constituency,” he said.
In 2014 Reshi lost the election to National Conference’s Muhammad Akbar Lone again by a thin margin of around 406 votes. He had polled over 32,400 votes.
To a question about his future course of action, Reshi said: “I am part of the party and party belongs to me. The party also belongs to senior leaders like Muzaffar Hussain Baigh, Muhammad Dilawar Mir, Qazi Muhammad Afzal and other senior leaders. I have got inspired by them to take plunge into politics.”
Reshi said he had been raising the “issues” for a “long time” at the party forum and individually with the leadership.
While today’s decision to sack Reshi gave rise to speculation that PDP might act tougher against him and disqualify him as member of state legislature, a senior party leader said, “there has been no discussion on any such issue yet.”
“In every party, there are members who have grievances and complaints. There are always ways to resolve such issues,” said the party leader, insisting not to be named.