Srinagar: Sounding a critical note, PDP MP Tariq Hameed Karra on Sunday said there was no perceptible change in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the change of guard and the people felt that things were going from the bad to the worst.
The senior PDP leader said that after the alliance with the BJP, his party was perceived to have become an "anti-thesis of its own political philosophy".
"People had reposed faith in PDP given the impressive track record of the coalition government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed between 2002 and 2005 as, at that time, instantaneous relief was visible on the ground on security and developmental fronts because of the then government's assertive pro-people policies.
"Unfortunately, this time round, no such perceptible change seems to be there in the situation and in fact the general perception is that things are going from the bad to the worst," Karra said in a statement here.
"While the founding principle and the core agenda of PDP was based on fighting repression in all its forms and manifestations, ironically, now in alliance with the BJP, the party today is perceived to have become an anti-thesis of own political philosophy," he said.
The MP called upon the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir government to reach out to the people of the state, saying they seemed to have got mired in a "dismaying scenario of cynicism and disillusionment" as even after the change of the guard.
"Unfortunately, people in the state today seem to have got mired in a dismaying scenario of cynicism and disillusionment as, even after the change of guard, they see nothing moving on the ground on political, security, economic and developmental fronts.
"The state and the Central governments must reach out to the people in the state, sooner the better, to address their political, economic, security and developmental concerns," Karra said.
He said if immediate and tangible measures were not taken to address the security and developmental concerns of the people, the "escalating disenchantment could fuel a fresh wave of alienation", which would have dangerous consequences.
"It is high time that the state's political executive objectively assesses the situation on the ground so that much-needed course-corrections could be made in the Government functioning without any further delay. The onus lies on the Government of India also to reach-out to the state and its people with the much-needed financial package for reconstruction of dilapidated infrastructure and revival of the sagging economy," the MP said.
He said there were many lessons for the PDP leadership to be learnt from the "systemic downfall" of the National Conference (NC).
"The people made NC leaders to bite the dust, as they started feeling that the party was repeatedly compromising the state's interests for power. There are many lessons to be learnt from NC's self-inflicted ruin and I am sure PDP leadership has ample wisdom not to tread the same perilous path," he said.
