Baig, Bukhari, Shehnaz Ganai attend rally

Jammu, Feb 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally at M A Stadium on Tuesday had a right mix of development and political flavour with an element of suspense.

Amid BJP leaders, who had gone full throttle to make the event a trailblazer, there were three important dignitaries who in particular caught almost everyone’s attention.

They were former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig, ex-legislator Dr Shehnaz Ganai and former minister Syed Mushtaq Bukhari.

While the presence of Ganai and Bukhari, who recently joined BJP, was not unexpected, it was the arrival of Baig that hogged all the limelight.

Before the arrival of the Prime Minister and even after he left, media persons made a bee-line to get bytes from Baig.

Was he going to join the BJP – was the first and foremost question? Baig responded to this query with a counter-question. “Why can I not come to listen to the Prime Minister?” he queried.

He stated that he was impressed by the development agenda of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also lived up to his promise to grant Scheduled Tribe status to Paharis.

He stated that he had no intention to join the BJP. But the element of suspense remained as he said, “I’m not with any party at present”, while responding to queries related to his association with the PDP.

Baig, recently along with his wife, had attended a function of PDP organised in connection with the death anniversary of founder president and former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.