Mehbooba quits Cong, Assembly seat; Mufti may follow suit

SRINAGAR, JULY 22: Congress Legislative Party leader Mehbooba Mufti today quit the party and her seat in the Assembly, a move which threatens to split the party in Jammu and Kashmir. Her father and former Union minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, is also expected to resign.

Mehbooba said she took the decision when the party leadership failed to commit itself to the idea of unconditional dialogue with the separatists to bring peace to the state. Asked with whom she advocated dialogue, Mehbooba replied: “The militant factions, with the Hurriyat (Conference), with the alienated factions.”

Mehbooba released copies of her five-page resignation-letter submitted to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. It said she was resigning as the leader of the Congress Party in the state legislature and also from the Assembly.

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“Believe me Madam, I am taking this step with a heavy heart,” she wrote. She told newsmen she was also quitting the primary membership.

Asked whether Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who represented Anantnag inthe dissolved Parliament, was also resigning from the party, Mehbooba said: “You will get to know in due course of time”.