Apni Party not BJP’s B-team: Altaf Bukhari

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir’s Apni Party is often accused of being the B-team of the BJP but on the contrary it was the PDP and the NC which had allied with the saffron party in the past, its chief Altaf Bukhari said on Friday.
He said the party does not believe in dynastic politics. He said the Apni party is against dynastic politics espoused by the Peoples democratic Party, which is dominated by the Sayeed family, the National Conference, which is dominated by the Abdullah family and the Indian National Congress, which is dominated by the Nehru Gandhi family.
“We are often accused by opponents of being the B-team of the BJP. But let me ask her (Mehbooba Mufti). When she was enjoying the chair of the chief minister being in coalition with BJP, wasn’t she then the B-team of the saffron party,” Bukhari said.
“Did the NC not ally with the BJP for a ministerial berth in the government. So, how is our party, which talks about protecting the rights of the people and blames the NC, the PDP and the Congress equally for the loss of our special status, a B-team of BJP?” Bukhari asked.
He was responding to J&K Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir and NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar who accused the Apni Party of being the B-team of the BJP. Mir said the real motive of the Apni Party would be exposed soon.
“This party is an offshoot of the saffron party aimed at creating chaos and divisions in the political system of J-K. People would soon give a befitting reply to this new formation,” he said.
Dar said “They (Apni Party) want to fill the political vacuum of Kashmir with those who parrot what New Delhi wants them to. It is therefore safe to call this new formation as Delhi’s party and nothing else.”
Bukhari asserted that the people of J&K will support the Apni Party and will emerge victorious in the District Development Council (DD.C) polls, saying the aim of his party was to do politics of truth.
“We’re not here to sell dreams and fantasies but will always be pragmatic, honest and fair in our approach. We have resolved to create a political platform where people are real stakeholders of the political process.
“Restoration of statehood, domicile rights on land jobs form our core agenda. We are a regional party with a national outlook,” Bukhari said.
He said, “The agenda is simple. We want to remove the miseries of people that they have been facing since August 5. We want restoration of statehood, rights on domicile and land. We want jobs, education institutions, economic activities, tourism, and business to have suffered, we want them to compensate”