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| Naeem Akhter goes silent as Baig addresses PDP convention | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Nov 13: It was government spokesman and senior leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday sitting silent on the podium as his veteran colleagues like Member Parliament Muzaffar Hussain Baig addressed the PDP convention here.
While Baig and other senior PDP leaders addressed the gathering outside the PDP head office here, Education Minister Naeem Akhter preferred to stay silent, drawing attention of the invitees many of whom wondered as to why he didn't speak.
In his address, Baig was all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that only he could resolve the Kashmir issue, whereas PDP General Secretary Sartaj Madani threw light on the vision of party founder and former Chief Minister late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.
The PDP leaders were addressing a daylong party convention of the central Kashmir districts of Budgam and Srinagar.
The dais was equally shared by Akhter and some other leaders including Nizam Ud Din Bhat, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura, Khurshid Aalam and Asiya Naqash.
Interestingly Asiya Naqash, who is a junior minister as compared to Naeem Akhter, addressed the gathering.
Insiders said the party leadership had received inputs that the "grassroots are not happy" with the performance Akhter and that they would have publicly objected to his address.
"The party workers looked uncomfortable to see him (Akhter) on the dais and started whispering to each... We got inputs that there was every possibility of hooting if he speaks, so we decided not to let him talk," the insiders said.
Sources said though earlier Akhter was scheduled to address the rally, his name was deleted from the list of speakers at the eleventh hour.
Sources said the convention was organized on the instructions of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is also the PDP president. Mehbooba is understood to have told the party leadership to revive the "political presence" of her party in restive Kashmir, struggling to come out of over four months of continued protests.
Sources said Khurshid Aalam played a major role in attracting crowds to the rally venue. It was learnt that MLA Amira Kadal, Syed Altaf Bukhari, who is abroad, had told Aalam to make the rally a "success at any cost."
For the past few months, since unrest erupted in Kashmir, Bukhari and Aalam are often seen as friends, where as the duo is equally close to Akhter.
Sometime back when Akhter was cornered by Kashmir Inc over "enforcement of exams" Aalam publicly come out in support of Akhter.
But today at the party meeting, where Aalam was the main host, Akhter sat silent. |
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