<p>Former Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Altaf Bukhari on Sunday formally launched a new political party – ‘Jammu Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP)’ - inducting known faces from other parties especially the regional PDP.</p>.<p>The new party has taken a shape at a time when several high profile leaders, including three former chief ministers - Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti - are in detention under Public Safety Act (PSA).</p>.<p>The new party’s core agenda would be the restoration of J&K’s statehood and its residents’ domicile rights on land and jobs, said Bukhari, who was elected JKAP’s president last evening. “We are a regional party with national outlook,” he told reporters at a press conference at his residence near city center Lal Chowk.</p>.<p>“After August 5, a lot has changed. People are in despair, tourism is reduced to zero and local industries have closed down. In that view, challenges are very huge. It is an endeavour to see how we can restore the semblance of these things,” Bukhari, who was expelled by the PDP last January for his “anti-party” activities, said.</p>.<p>He said the party was an outfit “of the commoners, by the commoners and for the commoners.”</p>.<p>“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,” the JKAP president said.</p>.<p>In an apparent reference to National Conference and the PDP, he said the new party is not floated by a family and there will be a total restriction that anybody who becomes president of the party cannot be elected more than two times.</p>.<p>The party includes 30 members, including 22-23 ex-legislators/ministers from various political parties such as PDP, NC, Congress and some independents. The leaders who joined hands with Bukhari have also served as former legislators or ministers in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State.</p>.<p>Replying to a query about the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status (Article 370) by the central government last year, he said the case is still pending in the Supreme Court and any decision in this regard has to be accepted. “Nothing can be achieved by opposing the move by central government. It will not bring any fruit,” Bukhari said.</p>.<p>He said that “restoration of statehood, domicile rights on land and jobs, beside a holistic and an equitable development of all the regions and sub regions of Jammu and Kashmir forms our core agenda.”</p>.<p>Asked about the formation of party amid continuous detention of mainstream leaders, the JKAP president said, “We were waiting for last seven months hoping that the leaders will come out and raise the issues being faced by the people. But, as most of the leaders who were under detention have been released, they preferred to keep mum. We decided to come up with an alternative to speak for the people.”</p>
<p>Former Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Altaf Bukhari on Sunday formally launched a new political party – ‘Jammu Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP)’ - inducting known faces from other parties especially the regional PDP.</p>.<p>The new party has taken a shape at a time when several high profile leaders, including three former chief ministers - Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti - are in detention under Public Safety Act (PSA).</p>.<p>The new party’s core agenda would be the restoration of J&K’s statehood and its residents’ domicile rights on land and jobs, said Bukhari, who was elected JKAP’s president last evening. “We are a regional party with national outlook,” he told reporters at a press conference at his residence near city center Lal Chowk.</p>.<p>“After August 5, a lot has changed. People are in despair, tourism is reduced to zero and local industries have closed down. In that view, challenges are very huge. It is an endeavour to see how we can restore the semblance of these things,” Bukhari, who was expelled by the PDP last January for his “anti-party” activities, said.</p>.<p>He said the party was an outfit “of the commoners, by the commoners and for the commoners.”</p>.<p>“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,” the JKAP president said.</p>.<p>In an apparent reference to National Conference and the PDP, he said the new party is not floated by a family and there will be a total restriction that anybody who becomes president of the party cannot be elected more than two times.</p>.<p>The party includes 30 members, including 22-23 ex-legislators/ministers from various political parties such as PDP, NC, Congress and some independents. The leaders who joined hands with Bukhari have also served as former legislators or ministers in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State.</p>.<p>Replying to a query about the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status (Article 370) by the central government last year, he said the case is still pending in the Supreme Court and any decision in this regard has to be accepted. “Nothing can be achieved by opposing the move by central government. It will not bring any fruit,” Bukhari said.</p>.<p>He said that “restoration of statehood, domicile rights on land and jobs, beside a holistic and an equitable development of all the regions and sub regions of Jammu and Kashmir forms our core agenda.”</p>.<p>Asked about the formation of party amid continuous detention of mainstream leaders, the JKAP president said, “We were waiting for last seven months hoping that the leaders will come out and raise the issues being faced by the people. But, as most of the leaders who were under detention have been released, they preferred to keep mum. We decided to come up with an alternative to speak for the people.”</p>
