Muzaffar Beig’s another U-turn: ‘I am not with PDP’

Srinagar: In another U-turn, former deputy chief minister and founder member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Muzaffar Hussain Beigh on Tuesday said he was not associated with the party as he attended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Jammu.

“No, I am not with PDP. If they would even ask me (to join), I will ask them to think about national interest rather than personal benefits,” Baig told reporters in Jammu.

On January 7 Beigh and his wife, District Development Council (DDC) chairperson Baramulla, Safina Beigh, had rejoined the PDP at the Bijbehara graveyard on the death anniversary of party founder Mufti Mohammad Syed.

“I didn’t quit PDP. I was inactive for quite some time but I’m still associated with the party. The relation between me and PDP is like a single soul,” he said on January 7.

Beigh, who was a co-founder of the PDP in the late 1990s, had left the party on November 14, 2020 after differences with Mehbooba. He had said then that Mehbooba had joined the People’s Alliance for Gupkar declaration (PAGD) without consulting him.

However, Beigh didn’t open his cards this time and said that he was at the PM’s rally in response to an invite. “I’m here to listen to Prime Minister Modi. Has anyone told you that I am joining the BJP? Neither has anyone asked me to join the BJP nor have I come to join it,” he replied to a query.

Asked whether he would join the BJP if an invite comes, the wily politicians evaded direct answer and said, “Let the invite come. It’s not necessary to join but what’s more important is to perform one’s duties.”

He was all praise for Modi saying, “After he came to power, there has been an improvement in Jammu and Kashmir by 500 times.”

Beigh, who represented Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in the Parliament from 2014-2019, also claimed that the BJP would do well in Kashmir in the upcoming polls. He also revealed that he had good relations with Modi.