Bukhari-led ‘Aapki Party’ to be launched by month-end
SRINAGAR: A group of former ministers and legislators will be launching a new political outfit ‘Aapki Party’ in Jammu and Kashmir by the end of February, people familiar with the matter said.
It is likely that the new party will field its candidates in the panchayat elections which are scheduled to be held in the UT in March in eight phases.
More than a dozen former ministers and legislators of the PDP, NC,Congress and independent candidates will be part of this new party, which will be led by two former ministers— Altaf Bukhari and Ghulam Hassan Mir.
“A five-member team has been constituted to draft the constitution of the party. The announcement will be made in Srinagar in the next few days,” Bukhari told IANS. He said the party won’t just consist of former legislators and ministers but will include new faces as well.
The leaders of this new political outfit said after the formation of the new party the leadership will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to discuss issues related to J&K. They said the name and flag of the party has been finalised and will be launched in Srinagar in the last week of this month.
A senior political leader and former legislator said all the formalities required for formation of a political party have been completed. “After February 20, the new party could be launched any time,” he said.
The leaders said they will be fighting for restoration of statehood and safeguarding domicile rights. Former minister Altaf Bukhari, who is seen as the chief ministerial face of this new party, had recently told HT that the party will work for the people of J&K who need relief and a shoulder to cry. He had said the party will be J&K centric and will have leaders from both Jammu and Kashmir regions. “The focus of new party will not be emotional slogans but to bring relief to the people,” he had said.
Recently, a new party was also launched in New Delhi by Junaid Mir, a resident of north Kashmir’s Langate area, who claims to have support of dozens of panchayat and local body members.