By IANS,
Srinagar : Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday decided to go solo and contest the Lok Sabha elections from all the six parliamentary seats in the state.
“We will contest elections for all the six seats in the state. We have decided not to enter into any alliance with any political party,” PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed told reporters here.
“We are about to finalise the list of candidates for all the six parliamentary seats in the state and consultations are in the final stage,” Mufti said.
The former chief minister demanded withdrawal of army from the civilian areas as also the special powers given to them.
“Militancy is on the decline and army should be withdrawn from the civilian areas,” he said.
Mufti said it should not continue to be the state’s destiny “to lose our young people to guns and bullets”.
“Kashmir has charted its own course of peaceful resistance and struggle and the aspirations of its people will have to be respected by undoing the political and economic injustices with the state,” he said.
“An atmosphere has to be created that provides the best knowledge, education, skills and employment opportunities to our youth who have suffered immensely all these years.”
Reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir is not a “place to be tackled through packages and doles,” the PDP patron said, “It is to be facilitated and assisted in realising its potential of natural resources.”
“We have done it in the past, and I am sure if there is a political will we can do it again,” he said and added that the PDP accords highest priority to economic rejuvenation of Jammu and Kashmir in proportion to the immense potential in the region.