Without Unity, Neither Opposition Nor Its Leaders Will Survive In 2024: PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti

Making a case for Opposition unity, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti stressed that without it, neither the opposition nor its leaders will survive in 2024.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday spoke about attending the opposition meeting in Patna yesterday and stressed that opposition unity was important for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. She said that parties raised issues pertaining to saving democracy, constitution, and secularism. "If there will be no opposition unity, neither the opposition nor the leaders of the opposition will survive in 2024," she stressed. 

"My Bihar experience was very good. We all had the same issue that democracy, constitution, and secularism have to be saved... If there will be no opposition unity, neither the opposition nor the leaders of the opposition will survive in 2024," the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party chief said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

In a tweet yesterday, she shared "lovely memories" of meeting former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav at the opposition meeting. "Apart from the lovely memories I have of 
@laluprasadrjd ji with Mufti sahab, he’s also a source of strength & inspiration.Even at an age where he’s suffering from grave health issues,he’s taken BJP head on despite being harassed to no end by their pet agencies. I salute his spirit," she wrote.

Mufti, who has been shunning media spotlight since landing at the Patna airport in the morning, had also taken time off for pilgrimage in Bihar.

She shared details of her trip to Bodh Gaya and Nalanda district on her Twitter handle.

"Paid obeisance at Yousuf Shah Chak’s grave in Bihar. As the last Muslim ruler of Kashmir, his resting place symbolises the ties between Kashmir and Bihar,” she tweeted, while sharing pictures of herself at the tomb of the 16th century king in Biswak, falling in Nalanda district.

"Unfortunately the site is in absolute disrepair and ruins. Appeal @NitishKumar ji to take steps to preserve this relic of history,” added Mufti, drawing the attention of the chief minister of Bihar, who hails from Nalanda.

Mufti, who was the last chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir prior to the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent split of the state into two Union Territories, later went to the internationally renowned Buddhist pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya.

"Was an extraordinary experience to visit Bodhgaya in Bihar where Buddha attained enlightenment under a banyan tree. Its serenity & sacred energy moved me deeply. In an India riven by division, I hope his remarkable teachings steer us towards the path of peace and compassion," said Mufti, who resigned as chief minister in 2018, after running a coalition government with BJP for over two years.

She co-founded the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration in 2020, with Farooq Abdullah.