"What worse can he say about Congress?": Mehbooba Mufti slams Choudhary Akram for his 'BJP-Congress same-same' remark

"The statements made by Choudhary Akram while joining JKNC, he said that there is no difference between Congress and BJP. He said BJP is Congress. He is the same Choudhary Akram whose father (Chaudhary Mohammad Aslam) was part of the Congress party. What worse can he say about Congress? I don't understand how the Congress workers would support the NC. The NC leadership used to refer to Congress workers as 'gandi naali kay keeday' (the worms of the gutter). They used to face social boycott," she said.

Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP) President and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said that Congress should think about their support to the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir after the leader of the latter Chaudhary Mohammad Akram equated the Congress with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "The statements made by Choudhary Akram while joining JKNC, he said that there is no difference between Congress and BJP. He said BJP is Congress. He is the same Choudhary Akram whose father (Chaudhary Mohammad Aslam) was part of the Congress party. What worse can he say about Congress? I don't understand how the Congress workers would support the NC. The NC leadership used to refer to Congress workers as 'gandi naali kay keeday' (the worms of the gutter). They used to face social boycott," Mufti told reporters.

She said that it was "unfortunate" that Akram chose to describe the Congress in that manner. "This is for the Congress workers to think about. They have to support the National Conference (in this election) but they (Akram) are calling them the B team of the BJP," she added.

Akram joined the National Conference earlier this month and he was elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on a Congress ticket in the 2014 polls. Earlier on April 8, the Congress and National Conference announced the seat-sharing agreement for the five constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir and one constituency of Ladakh.

Under the seat-sharing agreement, the Congress will contest from Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh parliamentary constituencies, while the National Conference will contest from Anantnag-Rajouri, Srinagar and Baramulla Lok Sabha seats. Polling in Udhampur was held on April 19 (Phase 1), while Jammu, Anantnag-Rajouri, Srinagar, and Baramulla will poll on April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20.

In 2019, polling for the Lok Sabha was held for six seats in Jammu and Kashmir. However, following the abrogation of Article 370, which resulted in the split of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state into two Union Territories--Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, there is no longer a separate Lok Sabha constituency for Ladakh. In the 2019 elections, the BJP won three seats while the National Conference won the remaining three.

The elections for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting on April 19. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4. (ANI)

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