SAAHIL SUHAIL
EARLY TIMES REPORT
ANANTNAG, Mar 5: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary and Chairman Municipal Council Anantnag Hilal Ahmad Shah on Friday joined Altaf Bukhari led Apni Party along with municipality councilors.
According to reports, Congress leader Hilal Ahmad Shah joined the Apni Party in presence of party chief Altaf Ahmad Bukhari, General Secretary Rafi Ahmad Mir and District President Abdul Rahim Rather.
Apni Party district President for Anantnag, Abdul Rahim Rather confirmed the development. “Yes, he joined us today along with his councilors,” Mr Rather told Early Times over the phone.
Hilal Ahmad Shah is currently Chairman of Anantnag Municipal Council. Out of 25, Congress had 16 councilors, BJP 1, PDP 1, and 7 councilors are independents.
Hilal Ahmad Shah, who contested assembly election from Anantnag Assembly segment thrice, was considered a close aide of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir; however indifferences between them started over the categorization of assembly constituencies. “The events that took place after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A in 2019 too played a crucial role and ultimately Hilal Ahmad Shah after securing his release from detention started building a relationship with a top leader who represents the ruling party in New Delhi,” claimed sources.
They claimed that the politician stayed in touch with the Apni Party from the last two years and had helped them during critical times.
Last year, JKPCC Chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir had put Hilal Ahmad Shah on notice for meeting foreign envoys in Srinagar.
Contractor turned politician-Hilal Ahmad Shah-contested 2008 assembly elections from Anantnag as independent candidate after JKPCC Chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir, who introduced him to politics, couldn’t secure a ticket for him.
A year later, he formally joined Congress and contested 2014 assembly elections from Anantnag against late PDP Chief Mufti Mohmmad Sayeed in which he performed better and got 12,000 votes. |
