Mohammad Khalil Bandh In Pulwama: Ex-PDP Veteran On NC Ticket (image:facebook.com/MKBandh)
It was in 2019, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, one of the founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) left the party accusing its leadership of neglecting and humiliating the old leaders.
He was one among the few senior PDP leaders who stayed with PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti after the demise of party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2016. One of the veteran voices of the party, Bandh said he has conveyed objections to the party but was repeatedly ignored. PDP and its core ideology has been “hijacked by a chosen few,” Khalil Bandh stated. “There is no space for people like me who were among the founders. PDP is being ruled by new faces who put their vested interests above the party’s interests,” Kashmir Life reported, as Bandh is saying. He was left with no option than to quit the party for the larger good, senior leader added.
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After four days of exit, Bandh joined National Conference (NC). In the forthcoming Assembly election, he will be contesting from Pulwama assembly segment on a NC ticket.
As a PDP legislator, Khalil Bandh has represented the Pulwama Assembly segment three times – 2002, 2008, and 2014. However, if observe the three consecutive Assembly polls, the victory margin of the Bandh can be seen to be deteriorating. In the 2014 polls, Khalil Bandh defeated the National Conference (NC) candidate Ghulam Nabi Wani by a margin of 1032 votes. He has also served as the Pulwama district president of the party.
In the PDP-BJP coalition government, he was given ministerial position with portfolios, Agriculture Production and Mohammad Ashraf Mir Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs. Bandh became the eighth legislator from the PDP to resign after the coalition government broke down in June 2018.
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Khalil Bandh was close aide of late Chief Minister Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and served Minister of State for Public Works (Roads & Buildings) during his term.
The elections to the legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 4.
