J&K ex-minister Drabu quits PDP

SRINAGAR: Former Jammu and Kashmir minister Haseeb Drabu on Thursday resigned from Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He is the second former PDP legislator after Imran Reza Ansari to quit the party since the dissolution of the state assembly in November. Ansari has joined former separatist Sajad Lone’s Peoples Conference, which is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally. Drabu’s immediate plans were immediately unclear. He is seen to be close to Lone and could join his party. Drabu announced his resignation on Twitter.

The PDP leadership was tightlipped about the resignation. Party leaders were asked not to react to it, according to people aware of the development. Drabu said he distanced himself from PDP even though his resignation two years back had been rejected.

Drabu said he thought it was morally incorrect for him to resign as long as the state assembly was intact since he had won on a PDP ticket. “Now that it (the assembly) is over, I am hereby resigning…” he said.

Drabu, who was dropped from then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s cabinet in March, said he disagreed with the timing and manner of the assembly dissolution. “It does not credit either the democratic system or its custodian participants any glory whatsoever.” The assembly was dissolved after the PDP, its arch-rival, the National Conference, and Congress joined hands to stake claim to form the government. Lone, too, staked his claim later. Drabu praised late PDP founder and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. He hoped history would judge Sayeed’s decision to ally with the BJP in the context and with the complexity it deserves. Drabu had played a key role in forging PDP’S alliance with the BJP in 2014 to form the state government. The BJP quit the alliance in June.