The People’s Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir suffered a setback after its founding member Muzaffar Hussain Baig resigned on Saturday, the PTI news agency reported.
Baig disagreed with the agreement to share seats in the upcoming District Development Council (DDC) elections, according to PTI and other news agencies.
Leaders close to Baigh were quoted by the ANI news agency as saying that the Popular Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) did not consult him for the seat sharing agreement. The leader of the National Conference, Farooq Abdullah, who is the president of the PAGD, had announced that the alliance will compete jointly in the DDC elections. The head of the PDP, Mehbooba Mufti, is the vice president of the alliance.
The leaders quoted above said Baigh informed Mufti of his decision to leave the party with which he has been associated since its inception in 1998.
The PAGD is an amalgamation of the main political parties, including the National Conference, the PDP, the People’s Conference, and the CPI (M).
The election of the 20 DDCs will be held in Jammu and Kashmir in eight phases between November 28 and December 19, and the vote counting will take place on December 22. This will be the first major electoral exercise in the territory of the union since the repeal of Article 370 in August of last year.
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