Srinagar: Before he could quit, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday expelled senior leader Altaf Bukhari from party’s basic membership for “anti-party activities”.
“(The) party today expelled Altaf Bukhari from the party for his anti-party activities,” PDP said on Twitter.
“Party has been watching with concern the activities of Altaf Bukhari for quite some time and thereby stands expelled from the basic membership of party.”
The PDP had dropped enough hints recently about the decision and more so when it opposed Altaf Bukhari’s statement in which he had seconded national conference vice president Omar Abdullah that the coalitions government have been a failure in the state.
The PDP decision to expel Bukhari comes to the closes heels of the resignation of Javed Mustafa Mir, former Minister in the Mehbooba Mufti’s Cabinet, who quit Party.
Earlier, former Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu, former Law Minister Basharat Bukhari and former Information Technology Minister Imran Ansari had resigned from the party after expressing dissatisfaction with the leadership.
Also PDP leader Abbas Wani, who represented the party from Tangmarg constituency, joined Sajad Lone’s People’s Conference. Three MLAs from the PDP have joined Lone’s party so far. Two PDP MLCs also resigned from the party.
Meanwhile, reacting to it, the former finance minister Altaf Bukhari welcomed the decision but termed reasons attributed as “debatable.”
“It has been a long association with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) especially with its founder Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. My association with this party has been enriching in many ways. It not only gave me a chance to work for my constituency but provided me an opportunity to contribute my bit in the development across the nook and corner of the state,” he said in a statement issued here.
“While I am happy over the party’s decision but the reasons given for my expulsion are debatable. During my journey of active politics I have witnessed agreements and disagreements, gratification and obstructions, brewing resentment and misguided notions. Power and position have never been an allurement for me as the history bears a testimony to that fact,” he said, adding, “During this brief stint of my active politics I also got a chance to witness the downfall of so called popular leaders and rise of those who were hitherto unknown in the arena of politics. I am also equally happy for this decision of the party as my conscience is clean and I never compromised on my principles. I wish the J&K PDP all the very best!”
