PDP leader Tariq Karra boycotts Mehbooba's swearing-in over ministerial berths

Jammu: Slamming Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for not bringing in new faces in the council of ministers, MP and senior PDP leader Tariq Hamid Karra on Monday boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of the new government in protest. “I have boycotted the swearing-in-ceremony. During the discussion on finalisation of council of ministers, I had certain reservations (over the induction of three PDP MLAs-Altaf Bukhari, Naeem Akhter and Haseeb Drabu) which I had put before the party chief in the first meeting in Srinagar”, Karra said. “If you want to come with the same faces, a wrong message will go. Those three PDP MLAs, who are responsible for Mufti government’s failure, were collaborators in back-stabbing him (Mufti),” he said. Karra hit out at the trio and said “if you continue with them, you are keeping the option of back-stabbing open”. [caption id=“attachment_2711760” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mehbooba Mufti. File photo. AFP[/caption] “You (Mehbooba) are sending a message that you are rewarding the collaborators who had tried to engineer a coup against you. The message will be wrong”, he said. Karra said he told Mehbooba Mufti that God had given her this opportunity and she should avail it. “You replace all of them. You drop one, shift another to council and make somebody else Finance Minister”, he said. He said that during his first meeting with Mehbooba, he had put forward his reservations over their inclusion in the council of ministers and she had asked him to come, sit and analyse. “She promised me that if you are not satisfied with my decision, that I am doing something wrong, do not come to my swearing-in-ceremony,” he said adding “I am convinced that you are doing something wrong and I will not be coming tomorrow”. There is no introspection (on her part). After debacle, introspection does take place, she has not done it, she is keeping “snakes up her sleeves”, he said.