The National Conference said the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and ally Bharatiya Janata Party have “merged”, a day after two PDP ministers attended the BJP’s national executive meet here. “Looking at the way the two parties are now having a joint-executive body meeting in Kashmir, the north pole and south pole have not just met, but undoubtedly merged,” said Nasir Aslam Wani, the provincial president of the National Conference for Kashmir.
Senior party leader and Public Works Minister Naeem Akhtar, along with PDP president and Social Welfare Minister Sajad Lone attended the BJP meet at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) yesterday, where they also gave a brief speech.
Both the ministers also attended a lunch hosted by the BJP. “Executive body meetings are not part of governance decision making. These are policy making occasions for the party. The news of Akhtar being part of this meeting is not just shocking, but questionable too,” Wani added.
The former minister alleged the presence of Akhtar in the BJP’s executive was a “clear sign” that both the PDP and BJP has the same agenda in Jammu and Kashmir. “Are they (PDP) taking dictations from the BJP? Or are they helping the saffron brigade spread its tentacles better over J&K?” the NC leader said, adding that the people of Kashmir deserve an explanation about what the senior PDP leaders were doing at the BJP policy meeting.
