NC, Cong MLAs booed by PDP workers at official function
• Omar hits out at party legislator’s exclusion
• Lawmakers question name of Sartaj Madni on invitation cards
MLA Homeshalibugh, Abdul Majeed Bhat (Larmi) Thursday walked out of a function presided over by Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti after getting heckled and shown vulgar gestures by some PDP workers.
Bhat, a National Conference (NC) lawmaker, was accompanied by his party colleague and lawmaker from Pahalgam, Altaf Wani (Kuloo) and Congress MLA from Devsar segment of south Kashmir, Muhammad Amin Bhat. All three of them were official invitees at the flagging off ceremony of new trains at Anantnag Railway Station.
However, as soon as the trio arrived at the venue some PDP leaders started booing them and demanded that the lawmakers leave the function.
The booing and abusive gestures did not stop there. When the names of NC and Congress lawmakers were announced the hooting got intense prompting the MLA Homeshalibugh, who happened to be the local MLA, to leave the function.
Talking to Kashmir InFocus, Larmi said they were reluctant to attend the function in the first place.
“Being the local MLA my name was skipped from the invitation card and instead Sartaj Madni’s name was included. I fail to understand in what capacity he was invited,” he said.
Larmi said he and the other two MLAs decided to attend the function only after Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anantnag and the concerned SSP apologized on behalf of the Chief Minister for skipping his name from the card.
“The behavior of the PDP workers was unacceptable. It was an official function, not a PDP function,” he said.
Condemning the behavior of PDP workers, MLA Pahalgam, Altaf Kuloo said: “It never happened during our government. When Omar (Abdullah) sahib presided over a function at the same railway station the PDP MLA of Homeshalibugh, Abdul Ghaffar Sofi, delivered a speech. He was given due respect.”
However, Kuloo and Bhat of Congress did not leave the function and stayed all along.
Meanwhile, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah took exception to the exclusion of the legislator of his party.
Abdullah tweeted: “What a shame that the office bearer of a political party is a ‘guest of honour’ but the local MLA isn’t included.”
In another tweet, Abdullah said: “I remember Mufti Sahib (late chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed) being given a seat on the dais with (then prime minister) Dr. Manmohan Singh and (Congress chief) Mrs. (Sonia) Gandhi during my term even though it wasn’t his area.”
