Vajpayee became statesman because of Mufti: Akther

Senior Peoples Democratic Party leader Naeem Akhter Monday said the former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee became a statesman “due to the efforts” of the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.

Local news-gathering agency KNS quoted Akther as saying: “Late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed created history in J&K. In the past, members were taken from Sher-e-Kashmir’s party (National Conference) but now the same party (NC) is today taking the members from the PDP”.

   

Akther was speaking on the sidelines of a function organised by the PDP to mark the third anniversary of late Sayeed in southern Bijbehara town.

“The demise of Mufti Muhammad Syeed created a void in the Valley which nobody can fill. During his tenure, he (Sayeed) in 2002-2005 made a breakthrough on the Kashmir issue by compelling the central government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh to take steps for the resolution of the Kashmir issue,” he said.

Akther said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a bigger mandate as compared to Vajpayee and he was invited by Sayeed to Kashmir where he (Modi) promised everything but “failed to tread the path of Vajpayee vis-à-vis Kashmir”.

“Vajpayee became a statesman due to the efforts of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed,” Akther said, adding that late Vajpayee “came to know that he has to walk along with Kashmir so that things work”.

About PDP leaders resigning from the party, he said “the real asset of the party is its leadership and workers”. 

“Such a situation was witnessed by NC too in the past but the party is still there. Those who left NC then are nowhere today, but NC is still there. These things happen in political parties,” he said, adding that late Sayeed made the situation different in PDP as “parties like Sher-e-Kashmir’s party (NC) or those forming new parties are taking the members from PDP today”.

He said it is the failure of these parties “which are resorting to poaching now. It is time when they should think about their own home”. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

fourteen − 7 =