Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday alleged that police officials were harassing people in the name of overground workers (OGWs) during the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. “Once again many people from the police department have become active and are harassing and arresting people in the name of overground workers. Last time during the Lok Sabha elections, many people were arrested 10-15 days before the elections,” she alleged.
Mehbooba Mufti requested Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to intervene. She said, “Since you are saying that there will be ‘free and fair elections’ but your SHOs and SPs have started harassing people here and asking them to go to police stations. I request you to instruct them to stop these activities and stop harassing the common people.”
Let us tell you that in Jammu and Kashmir, “overground workers” (OGWs) are those individuals who work secretly for terrorist organizations, but are not directly involved in terrorist activities themselves. These people help terrorists, provide them support and information, such as supplying weapons and ammunition, arranging hiding places, and forwarding their messages.
There is no scope for alliance with BJP: Mehbooba
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday ruled out any possibility of an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jammu and Kashmir, saying government formation after the assembly elections would not be possible without her party. Targeting the National Conference, Mufti claimed that the party wanted to contest elections only to form a government. Addressing workers at the party headquarters here, she said, “These people have been doing this since 1947. Apart from this, they have no other objective. These people form alliances only to form a government, for ministerial posts.”
The PDP president said that her party wants to fight the elections on an agenda, but it will not be possible to form a government without her party after the assembly elections. She said, “We formed the government (in 2002) with just 16 MLAs. If God wishes, this time too no government will be formed without the PDP.” However, Mufti said that the PDP’s focus is more on implementing its agenda and less on forming the government. Mehbooba formed the government in 2015 by allying with the BJP. However, she ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the BJP after the elections this time.