Srinagar, April 16: Peoples Democratic Party Chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday kick-started her election campaign from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency.

The Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency will to the polls in the third phase of the election on May 7. Mufti is pitted against National Conference candidate and Gujjar leader Mian Altaf.

The PDP President, who was accompanied by party leaders including Srinagar Lok Sabha candidate Waheed Parra, started her road show from Wachi Zainapora Shopian.

She alleged that entire Kashmir has been turned into jail and arrests have started with the announcement of polls.

“Hundreds of youth are being arrested and booked under PSA (Public Safety Act ) ahead of the Parliament election. Recently in the Shopian area, a tourist guide was shot at and injured by militants, which is very unfortunate. But that does not mean the security forces will round up hundreds of youth and book them under PSA and send them behind the bars,” Mufti said.

She said this is not only happening in Shopian or Pulwama districts of south Kashmir but in the “whole” of the valley.

“Security forces have started arresting the youth ahead of the elections”, Mehbooba alleged.

“If the authorities claim on one hand that everything is alright, why on the other they have started arresting the youth”, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister questioned.

“There is an atmosphere of suffocation that prevails here. One cannot even breath freely and there are restrictions on opinions also,” she said and added “to raise a voice against these enforced silence I have started the campaign from today”.

UNI