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Sajad Lone quits Gupkar Alliance 3 months after its formation

Srinagar
January 20, 2021

Less than three months after the Peoples' Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream parties demanding restoration of Article 370 was formed ,it received a jolt on Tuesday with Sajad Lone deciding to withdraw his Peoples' Conference from the group.

The 6 parties in the PAGD had recently fought district development council (DDC) polls together. Lone wrote to PAGD chairperson and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah saying that the party decided to part ways over the issue of fielding proxy candidates by constituent parties against the officially mandated candidates of the alliance during DDC elections.

"No party is willing to cede space; no party is willing to sacrifice. We fought against each other in Kashmir province not against the perpetrators of August 5 (2019). And those who perpetrated August 5 and their minions are now vocally gleeful. It is difficult for us to stay on and pretend as if nothing has happened," Lone wrote. "Trust between allying partners who have been rivals all along can be very elusive and extremely fragile.

Proxies have made it perpetually elusive. This alliance needed sacrifice," he said. The PAGD was formed on October 20, 2020 after six political parties, some of them rivals - National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, CPI(M), Awami National Conference, Peoples' Conference and Peoples' Movement came together to fight for the restoration of special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.that was revoked on August 5, 2019.