Amid fear of backlash, PDP MLAs give a miss to their constituencies

Amid fear of backlash, PDP MLAs give a miss to their constituenciesOn Wednesday when Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti visited central Kashmir’s Budgam district to review the law and order situation, her party’s legislator from the district was missing in the meeting.
While the Chief Minister is facing criticism for “mishandling” the ongoing unrest, which resulted in nearly 50 killings, her party legislator are mostly missing from the scene during the present crisis. This is despite the fact that she had asked her ministers and legislator to visit their constituencies and reach out to people.
Many MLAs of the party are “fearful of the backlash”, especially in south Kashmir, which has been the epicentre of the present unrest. After Mehbooba’s direction to reach out to people, a few PDP MLAs have been camping in the district headquarters, but have not been able to contact people in the worst violence-hit areas.
“I went to south Kashmir, but was not able to reach out to people of my constituency which was one of the worst-hit,” said a first-time MLA. “Even some of my colleagues who had been camping in their constituencies have not been able to move out since the killing of Burhan Wani.”
Another PDP lawmaker from Srinagar said the party should hold a meeting of party legislators to discuss the present situation.
“An all-party meeting was held in Srinagar about the current situation and the way out, but our party has not held any meeting of its legislators to discuss the situation till today. I think we should hold a meeting as major violence has happened in the areas that have been our stronghold,” the MLA said.
At least two PDP legislators have faced backlash during the present unrest. One PDP legislator from south Kashmir Mohammad Khali Bandh suffered fractures in his legs while trying to escape from protesters throwing stones in Pulwama. A hotel owned by an MLA, Abdul Rahim Rather, in Kokernag was gutted.

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