Ex-PDP leader Bukhari denies forming new political party

Former PDP Minister Altaf Bukhari, who had met Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor G.C. Murmu along with other political leaders earlier this month, on Tuesday denied reports that he was floating a new political party.

In a statement, he dismissed such reports as a "figment of imagination".

"This news seems to have been floated with a single-minded agenda to mislead and confuse," a spokesperson for Bukhari said.

He said as already informed to media, a "significant number of like-minded friends and political colleagues are in touch with each other and in this context, informal meetings are often convened".

"These meetings are aimed at reviving the emerging political situation and should not be misconstrued as formation of any political party."

Earlier this month, Bukhari led a group of former legislators which met Murmu in Jammu and presented a memorandum with a list of demands for restoring political activity in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bukhari stressed that Jammu and Kashmir cannot perpetually "mourn" the abrogation of Article 370.

In an exclusive interview with , Bukhari had said the time has come to look beyond Article 370 and explore other achievable options for Jammu and Kashmir.

"The pain of loss of Article 370 will never go, but we have to come out of it," he said. "Life goes on; we must try for things that we can get."

He said the way forward is domicile rights for residents and restoration of the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

( With inputs from IANS )