Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): When former minister and business-magnate Altaf Bukhari launched 'Apni Party' on March 8, 2020, with much fanfare at his palatial house here, he was surrounded by over 30 former ministers and legislators, who had resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Apni Party's leaders in the subsequent four years claimed that their party was an alternative to the family-run parties the National Conference and the PDP.
Launched seven months after the abrogation of Article 370 and Jammu Kashmir becoming a union territory, the Bukhari-led party promised an alternative to the old parties. At the time, three former chief ministers -- Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti--were under 'house arrest', slapped with stringent Public Safety Act after their midnight 'detention' on August 4, 2019.
Bukhari said he had a strong will to challenge old parties in the larger interest of the masses. However, his party fared poorly in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the previously held District Development Council (DDC) elections, as the candidates lost their security deposits.
It was also perceived that the Apni Party was a proxy of the BJP. Bukhadi and his colleagues tried to persuade people that they were not a B team of the BJP.
The Apni Party is contesting over 30 seats in the three-phased Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, beginning September 18. Its main contenders are only on nine seats.
Bukhari, is contesting from Chanapora Assembly constituency in Srinagar. Except for Ghulam Hassan Mir, all other candidates were formerly with the PDP as legislators. Mir was among the founders of PDP, but he resigned from the party and formed his own outfit known as Democratic Peoples Front. He merged his outfit with the Apni Party to become its co-founder.
In the parliamentary elections, two AP candidates, Ashraf Mir and Zaffar Manhas, who contested on the Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri seats respectively, lost their security deposit. Several AP leaders, including its co-founder Zaffar Manhas, left the Apni Party.
After the parliamentary elections, Bukhari held a meeting of its founding members and adopted a new strategy to keep its reputation afloat among the Valley voters. He said that the perceived proximity with the BJP entailed a political cost.
But, the new strategy does not appear to have worked for the party, as the exodus continues unabated. Besides Manhas, others who have thus far left include its vice-president Usman Majeed, district president Anantnag and former legislator Abdul Rahim Rather, district president Srinagar and former legislator Noor Muhammad Sheikh, provincial vice-president Jammu Choudhary Zulfkar Ali, chief spokesperson and former legislator Javaid Baig. These leaders have either joined the BJP, the NC or the Congress while some are contesting as independents.
In its manifesto, the party said it will press for constitutional guarantees to preserve the culture and special identity of Jammu and Kashmir, similar to the provisions of Article 371 in some north-eastern states. This includes land and job protection, addressing the people's sense of loss.
Bukhari recently said that the Apni Party would prove to be a reliable platform for serving the people. The results of the Assembly elections will determine if the party’s nine main contenders win and succeed in keeping the party intact it remains to be seen.
