Launching a scathing attack against the policies of his own party National Conference, senior NC leader and a former Member Parliament from South Kashmir Dr Mehboob Beig on Monday accused finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather for economic disparity and backdoor appointment in Jammu and Kashmir Bank.Beig while addressing a gathering on the anniversary of his father Mirza Afzal Beigh at South Kashmir warned his party to mend its policies or be ready to face drubbing in the upcoming assembly elections. “The May 16 results reflect that NC has lost in 39 out of 44 assembly seats. The PDP that was born in South Kashmir is now accepted in Srinagar and Baramulla also. I agree that people of South Kashmir have been neglected to the hilt and Omar Sahib should address this sense of neglect or otherwise be ready for May 16 results again,” beg remarked, according to KNS correspondent. Criticizing the role of senior National Conference leader and finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather, the former MP said that majority of the employees of Jammu and Kashmir Bank hail from Charer-e-Shareef. “Rather has employed most of the people from Charar-e-Shareef in JK Bank and don’t the people of Anantnag deserve to be adjusted in that bank. Despite these appointments, Rather Sahib has failed in his constituency to garner support as is reflected in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections,” Beg stressed.
He also censured Rather for his role as the chairman of District Development Board saying that the finance minister would disallow the party MLA from speaking while as he would always allow PDP MLAs to put forth their point of view. He also remarked that Rahim Rather as the chairman of the district board failed to discharge his duties. He said such action of NC senior leaders are the major reason for the debacle of NC in the recently held Lok Sabha polls. Pertinently, no NC flag was hoisted during the function. “If you don’t learn from the mistakes that you commit in the past, then your rout is inevitable. You ignored south Kashmir and its people and that is the reason that you faced this huge defeat in the recent elections. You have yourself facilitated PDP’s win through your wrong policies.”Beg maintained that he had at several times informed the party about the wrong policies and steps being taken by government but according to Beg, the party didn’t pay any heed to his repeated suggestions. He admitted that as compared to PDP, his government did little for the people of south Kashmir that resulted in party’s erosion from the region.