Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Srinagar: In a bid to address the internal discord within the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), senior CPI(M) leader Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami said on Monday that he intends to bridge the gaps among its members.

Addressing the media in Srinagar, CPI (M) leader expressed concerns over the alliance’s current state and vowed to bridge the gaps ‘to keep it alive and active’.

  “I will try to keep PAGD alive and remain active. Breaking or the ending of PAGD may be a point of concern for people, but the ‘issue for which this alliance was made exists’,”.

Tarigami emphasized that PAGD wasn’t initially intended as an electoral alliance but fears it is being reduced to one for unknown reasons.

“PAGD was not an electoral alliance, and it is being reduced to one for unknown reasons,” Said Tarigami.

He said efforts are on to reconcile differences and maintain cohesion within the alliance amidst the ongoing crisis.

However, on Friday, in a dramatic turn of events, the PAGD saw a technical end when Mehbooba Mufti expressed her disappointment with Dr. Farooq Abdullah for ending the alliance without prior notice.

The development followed NC Vice President Omar Abdullah’s announcement that the NC would contest all three seats in the Kashmir valley during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, ruling out support for the PDP in the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat.

Tarigami, while addressing the media, also criticized Prime Minister Modi’s recent speech in Srinagar as ‘disappointing,’ and said the high expectations surrounding the visit and the lack of tangible relief provided to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Furthermore, Tarigami condemned the administration’s coercion of people to attend the rally organized by the BJP, stressing the importance of maintaining democratic principles and individual freedom in political participation.

“It became evident that the administration, from top to bottom, assisted the BJP in organizing the rally, with all other work suspended to ensure participation,” Tarigami said.

“It’s important to maintain democratic principles and individual freedom in participating in political events. The coercion of people to attend the rally was deemed unacceptable,” said he.

While highlighting the plight of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Tarigami questioned the lack of assembly elections and statehood and demanded the restoration of all democratic rights.

He attributed various forms of terrorism in the J&K to the denial of basic democratic and human rights.

“It's because democracy was trampled, and the same is being repeated. Why was there terrorism in Punjab and Nagaland? Though, there was no Art 370 there. Terrorism emerged due to denial of basic democratic and human rights," said he.

On the issue of electoral bonds, Tarigami said that the General Secretary of CPI (M) was one of the petitioners in the matter. “The bonds have corrupted the political system and need to be ended,” Tarigami said.