Responding to his expulsion from the PDP, former finance minister, Syed Altaf Bukhari on Saturday said he was “happy” over the decision but termed the reasons given for his removal as “debatable”.
“…I am happy for this decision of the party as my conscience is clean and I never compromised on my principles. I wish the J&K PDP all the very best!” Bukhari said in a statement.
“Today, I feel relieved from a huge burden. My continuation in the PDP was against my conscience,” said Bukhari.
“I welcome party’s decision…they have freed me cage today.” Bukhari said he would share with media about his next course of action after some days. He said during his journey of active politics he has witnessed agreements and disagreements, gratification and obstructions, brewing resentment and misguided notions.
“Power and position have never been an allurement for me as the history bears a testimony to that fact. During this brief stint of my active politics I also got a chance to witness the downfall of so called popular leaders and rise of those who were hitherto unknown in the arena of politics,” Bukhari said.
Recalling his long association with the PDP and party founder Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, he said it has been enriching in many ways. “It not only gave me a chance to work for my constituency but provided me an opportunity to contribute my bit in the development across the nook and corner of the state,” Bukhari said.
Bukhari won his maiden Assembly election from Srinagar’s Amira Kadal constituency in 2014. He was inducted as a minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government headed by Mufti Sayeed.
But when Mehbooba became the Chief Minister in 2016, after demise of Mufti Sayeed, she dropped Bukhari from the cabinet. But he was inducted into the government again in 2017 as education minister and later on he went on to become finance minister after Mehbooba dropped HaseebDrabu from the cabinet following his controversial remarks that Kashmir wasn’t a political issue.
Earlier the party which is facing disintegration following the rebellion from senior leaders, expelled former minister BasharatBukhari, and Peerzada Muhammad Hussain who went on to join National Conference. With expulsion of Bukhari, Mehbooba Mufti who is the PDP president has now lost seven of her former MLAs including four former ministers, apart from some second-rung leaders including a former general secretary.