PDP chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari quits party ahead of Assembly polls

Srinagar, Aug 20: PDP chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari on Tuesday quit the party ahead of the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Bukhari was apparently miffed at not being given the mandate to contest the polls.
He had hoped to contest the polls from Wagoora-Kreeri, but the return of former minister Basharat Bukhari to the PDP last month diminished his chances of getting the ticket.
Bukhari, a journalist-turned-politician, was a close aide of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and had also served as her media consultant when she was the chief minister.
Speaking to reporters, Bukhari said he had joined the party in 2019 after the fall of the PDP-BJP government.
“It was a difficult period and in the last five years, I have worked really hard to strengthen the very idea of the PDP, which is the identity and rights of the people of Kashmir,” he said.
He said when attempts were made to break the PDP, the party workers did not break and stood by the party during all ups and downs.
Even young and educated people joined the party and contributed to it, he added.
However, Bukhari alleged that people are being side-lined despite their best contributions.
“New leaders are being welcomed. Many of the party leaders, who always stood by the party, have not been taken on-board. So, working in such conditions is becoming difficult for me. So, I have tendered my resignation as chief spokesperson and from the basic membership of the party,” he said.
Meanwhile, another PDP leader and DDC member from Tral Harbaksh Singh also quit the party.
Singh was apparently upset over the inclusion of Rafiq Ahmed Naik, son of former National Conference minister and MP Ali Mohammad Naik from Tral into the PDP. Naik is set to get the party ticket from Tral.
Singh said he has quit the party and announced to join the Awami Ittehad Party led by MP Sheikh Abdul Rasheed, who is currently in Tihar Jail.
Singh said he has not left the PDP over not getting the ticket, “but being a senior leader, I was not taken into confidence”. He said that despite giving 14 years to the PDP, he was not informed about the decision the party took for the Tral seat.