Jammu, Sept 17 (KNS) : In a significant expansion of its organisational outreach in Jammu and Kashmir, a group of prominent leaders, social workers and former PRI members from the Chenab Valley joined the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) at the party headquarters in Gandhi Nagar here today in the presence of JKAP President Altaf Bukhari and J&K Apni Party Jammu Province President Manjit Singh.
The joining comes amid the party’s continuing efforts to strengthen its grassroots presence across the Union Territory. Among those who joined were Pawan Kumar, Rabina Kausar and Dr. Shaukat Ali Khan, along with Tariq Hussain Zargar, Ghulam Hassan Butt, Shariq Amin Rishu, Jaffer Ahmed Butt, Liyakat Ali, Mohd. Farooq Malik, Shanti Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Hassan Din and Atish Ayaz Qurashee, besides other leaders and former PRI members. Prof. Vijay Anand of Roop Nagar, guided by Pushap Dev Uppal, District President Jammu Rural B, and senior National Conference leader Rajeev Singh from Kathua also joined the Apni Party.
In a statement issued, Altaf Bukhari welcomed the new entrants and said that the increasing participation of people from different regions and backgrounds in the Apni Party reflected, according to him, a desire for politics centred on public issues rather than slogans.
He said Jammu and Kashmir was passing through an important phase in which political parties needed to demonstrate that their commitments could actually be translated into policies and tangible results. Reiterating his oft-stated approach that political leaders should make only those promises which are “practicable and achievable,” Bukhari said people have become increasingly conscious of the difference between electoral assurances and deliverable governance.
Bukhari said the foremost challenge before Jammu and Kashmir was to create meaningful employment opportunities and restore confidence among the younger generation. He argued that the government must give sustained attention to recruitment, entrepreneurship, private investment and the strengthening of sectors such as tourism, agriculture, horticulture, handicrafts and small businesses.
He also stressed the need to improve healthcare, education, roads, electricity, drinking water and other essential services across both urban and rural areas. His recent public statements have similarly focused on unemployment, basic amenities, healthcare, electricity and drinking water as issues requiring greater governmental attention.
The Apni Party chief also reiterated that restoration of full statehood and adequate constitutional safeguards relating to land, jobs and the rights of the people remain among the central political concerns of Jammu and Kashmir. He has previously maintained that these issues cannot be treated merely as electoral slogans and has called for clarity and action rather than indefinite assurances.
At the same time, Bukhari has been critical of the National Conference-led administration over what he describes as inadequate attention to unemployment, basic amenities and other pressing public concerns, arguing that the government must use the powers available to it to address people’s day-to-day problems.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
Bukhari said the Apni Party would continue to provide a political platform to people from every region and community of J&K and would encourage leaders, professionals, social workers and young people to participate in public life.
He said the party’s emphasis would remain on issues affecting ordinary citizens, including employment, economic opportunities, public services, infrastructure and the protection of legitimate rights. Welcoming the new entrants, he expressed confidence that their experience and grassroots connect would strengthen the party’s organisational network in the Chenab Valley, Jammu region and other parts of the Union Territory.
Bukhari strongly advocated greater participation of local people from Doda and Kishtwar in the major development and infrastructure projects being undertaken in the Chenab Valley. He said that while large projects were important for the region’s economic and infrastructural transformation, their benefits should reach the local population through employment, contracts, business opportunities, skill development and other avenues of livelihood. He emphasised that local youth should be given adequate opportunities to work in and benefit from projects being executed in their own areas, so that development translates into sustainable employment and economic empowerment for local families. He called for a transparent and structured mechanism to ensure that eligible local residents, contractors, skilled workers, entrepreneurs and businesses are not excluded from the opportunities generated by these projects.
J&K Apni Party Jammu Province President Manjit Singh welcomed the new members and said their decision to join the party demonstrated growing interest in its stated approach of honest and issue-based politics. He said the Apni Party would provide space to people with grassroots experience and those who have remained connected with public concerns at the village and constituency levels.
Singh said the party would continue to raise issues concerning employment, development, roads, electricity, healthcare, farmers, traders, employees and other sections of society, while standing with people whenever their legitimate rights and welfare are at stake. He said the induction of leaders and social workers from the Chenab Valley would further strengthen the party’s organisational reach and enable it to articulate regional concerns more effectively. The party’s official leadership page identifies Manjit Singh as Provincial President, Jammu.
Prominent among those present on the occasion were former MLA Faqir Nath, Arun Chibber, Vice President; Ajaz Kazmi, Provincial Secretary and Trade Wing Incharge; Badri Nath Sharma, State Incharge Kissan Wing; Bodh Raj Bhagat, SC President; Pavneet Kour, Provincial President Women Wing; Abhay Bakaya, District President Jammu; and Adv. Harpreet Singh, District President Rural-A, besides other senior leaders and party workers.(KNS)