Karra 'back-stabbed' party: PDP

PDP on Friday termed as "back- stabbing" the resignation by its senior leader and MP Tariq Hamid Karra and insisted that it will not have much impact on the ruling party. Senior party leader Naeem Akhtar criticised Karra's decision announced on Thursday, saying he took the step at a time when there was a need to strengthen the hands of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and the administration.

"He has back-stabbed the party at a time when there was a need to strengthen the government and the Chief Minister," Akhtar, Education Minister and government spokesman, told PTI over phone. He said Karra, who quit complaining about government's handling of the ongoing unrest and PDP's alliance with BJP, had been elected on "our agenda and our ticket" and hence should not have taken such a step in such a situation.

Interestingly, Karra resigned from PDP and Lok Sabha days after separatist Hurriyat issued an appeal to mainstream politicians to quit their parties and posts and join the ongoing agitation against the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani.

Significantly, like the Hurriyat, he also appealed to the "conscience" of other party leaders to follow his footstpes. Asked whether Karra's decision could have been influenced by that appeal of the separatists, Akhtar said, "it is for him (Karra) to say." 

At the same time, Akhtar insisted that Karra's decision will not have much impact on the party "but it will have impact on the situation", which he refused to explain.

Attacking his former colleague, Akhtar said Karra was a member of the Lok Sabha for about two-and-a-half years but never articulated the sentiments of people of the Valley in the House for which he had got the mandate. "He never spoke there. He never raised issues like delay in disbursement of relief for 2014 floods (by the central government). If he were bound by principles, he should have waited for the situation in Kashmir to normalise before resigning," the government spokesman said.

In Jammu, Akhtar told reporters that the party is intact as it is an ideology and an agenda under a leadership. "The parties are like platforms and people keep coming and going. You must remember when NC entered into alliance with BJP and their one MP (Saifuddin Soz) had also resigned and left the party. This has been happening in the past," he said.