Peoples Democratic Party legislator Yasir Reshi on Friday joined the expanding list of disgruntled party leaders and called for an alternative to the “two family system” of power sharing in Jammu and Kashmir, PTI reported.
Reshi was referring to the Mufti and the Abdullah families, which, barring the periods of governor’s rule, have headed all but one government in the state since 1986. He is a member of the Legislative Council.
“I am in complete conformity with the views expressed recently by my esteemed colleagues, to find an alternative to the traditional two family system,” Reshi said.
Earlier this week, three MLAs of the Peoples Democratic Party had blamed former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for the collapse of the state government, which the party ran in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The dissent was led by former minister Imran Raza Ansari and his uncle Abid Ansari, and another MLA, Muhammad Abbas.
Legislators Abbas Wani, Abdul Majid Paddar and Javaid Beigh have supported the Ansaris since then.
“The need of the hour is to rise to the occasion and collectively, cutting across party lines, build a consensus on a leadership which has the capacity to countering these challenges,” Reshi said. “The only way out is to give chance to a new leadership.”
The state is facing multiple challenges of governance, law and order and societal distress, which successive governments have failed to address, resulting in an “anarchical situation”, he said. The state needs respite from the “tried, tested and failed two family power sharing model”, he said.
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