A day after Tariq Hameed Karra, a former leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), joined the Congress in New Delhi, the PDP said on Sunday that it had roped in senior Congress leader Nazir Khan ahead of the Lok Sabha by-elections.
Mr. Khan, from Beerwah in Budgam, was defeated by National Conference working president Omar Abdullah in the 2014 Assembly elections by just 910 votes.
The development comes at a time when the parties in the Valley are getting ready for the Lok Sabha by-elections to Anantnag, which fell vacant after the death of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in January 2016, and Srinagar, which was vacated by Mr. Karra after he resigned from the PDP in September 2016.
PDP sources said Mr. Khan’s entry “strengthened” the party’s vote base in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. The exit of Mr. Karra had dented the prospects of the PDP to retain the Srinagar parliament seat.
Meanwhile, Basharat Bukhari, who resigned from the Cabinet along with Imran Reza Ansari, met Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti at her home.
“I met her. I discussed the very political issues raised in the communication [the resignation letter] I had sent her. I very much discussed important governmental issues, I discussed important party issues, and I also discussed some personal issues,” Mr. Bukhari said.
