Third front in J&K : Altaf launches Apni Party

Srinagar: Aiming to provide relief to the people "facing challenges since August 5 last year," former People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Syed Altaf Bukhari launched his own new political party called the 'Jammu and Kashmir Apni (own) Party' (JKAP) here on Sunday.

"It is a very happy occasion that finally we have come up with our party known as Apni Party. It puts a lot of responsibility on us as the expectations and challenges are huge.

I assure people of Jammu and Kashmir that my will is strong to surmount these challenges in the interest of my people," Bukhari said."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," he added.

The party was launched especially on the occasion of International Women's Day.Thirty-one political leaders are expected to join the party, including those from PDP, National Conference (NC) and the Congress, sources added.

The National Conference said it is pretty clear that the Centre is contriving to prop up a third front in Jammu and Kashmir to "serve its interests at the cost of democracy".

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president A Mir also termed the new political party as "an offshoot of the saffron party".

In a statement, NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said it is becoming clear that the continued detention of legitimate and tall political voices of J-K is not about law and order, but it is purely political in nature.

He said the emergence of the new political formation is a "handiwork of those who want to blunt the true representative voices of J-K". The move is aimed to ditch genuine political aspirations of the people of J-K, he said.

"The way things are unfolding here in J-K, it is pretty clear that the Central government in connivance with few is contriving to prop up yet another formation in J-K to serve its interests at the cost of democracy and political probity," Dar said.