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Mufti stands by his remark, daughter Mehbooba defends

India Blooms News Service | | Mar 03, 2015, at 12:03 am

#Mufti Mohammad Sayeed takes oath as J&K CM in Narendra Modi's presence # Amit Shah # Nirmal Nath

New Delhi, Mar 2(IBNS) Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Monday said he stands by his statement on violence-free polls in the state.

"I've said what I've said and I stand by that. The media is making a mountain out of a molehill,' he said reacting to the uproar on his remark.

After being sworn in as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Sayeed had said in his first press conference that there would not have been good participation in the polls in the state if Pakistan, Hurriyat and the militants tried to disrupt it."We must credit the Hurriyat, Pakistan and militants for the conduct of the assembly election in the state," he had said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and Sayeed's daughter, Mehbooba Mufti on Monday defended her father's remark : ""We need to build stakes for Pakistan and Hurriyat in our peace process. If separatists and militants are stepping back from violence we should encourage them," she told NDTV.

The PDP and the BJP made a post poll alliance following two months of negotiation to overcome their differences and form government in Jammu and Kashmir recently .

Mufti's controversial comment caught the BJP unaware prompting it to dissociate itself from what he said. "Our government and the BJP fully dissociate with the statement. The credit for conducive environment for polls in Jammu and Kashmir goes to the Election Commission, our armed forces and the people...I make this statement after discussing it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha in the face of opposition demand for an explanation from the government.

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