PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said she would not contest the upcoming polls for a “powerless” Assembly and trained guns on rival Omar Abdullah who has decided to fight the elections at the last minute.

Mehbooba and Omar had vowed not to contest the Assembly elections until the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood. On Tuesday, Omar announced he would enter the fray from the Ganderbal constituency.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief, however, has chosen to stick to her guns, arguing she won’t be part of an Assembly which “cannot pass a law” or whose chief minister cannot withdraw an FIR against a youth.

“In Omar Abdullah’s own words, the chief minister cannot transfer a peon,” Mehbooba said.

Mehbooba, however, justified her action by recalling her term in alliance with the BJP. It is widely believed here that the PDP’s decision to join hands with the BJP was its biggest undoing. In the 2014 elections, the party had sought votes on the plea that it was the only force that could take on a resurgent BJP but to the shock of people, it joined hands with the saffron camp to form a government.

“I was a very powerful chief minister. My Assembly was very powerful. We had residuary powers. They (Centre) have turned our Assembly into a municipality, which cannot pass any law. In the words of Omar sahab, it cannot transfer a peon. If tomorrow, somebody comes to me to release a person (from jail), I cannot do that,” she said.

Mehbooba said her government in alliance with the BJP withdrew cases against 12,000 people (allegedly involved in stone-pelting or other incidents).

“Can you do it today? I formed a government with (Narendra) Modi and wrote a letter (as CM) to the separatists for dialogue. Can you do it today? I ensured a ceasefire. Can you do it today? I brought the leadership of the entire country and they knocked on the doors of the Hurriyat,” she said.

Mehbooba was referring to 2016 when top leaders visited Srinagar following a massive summer uprising that left around 100 people dead, hundreds injured and thousands in jail. The agitation had followed the death of Hizb commander Burhan Wani.

The BJP and the PDP had come together for government formation in 2015 and it lasted till 2018 when the BJP withdrew support. The next year, Jammu and Kashmir's special status was abrogated and the state demoted to two Union Territories. People here have not forgotten Mehbooba's decision to join hands with the BJP, as the party lost badly in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

Mehbooba said the alliance between the National Conference (NC) and the Congress was only for power while her party’s partnership with the BJP and the Congress at different times was "for the good of Kashmir".

She said the NC and the Congress had offered support to her party in 2015 but her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed chose the BJP not for power but for an agenda. Though Mehbooba is not contesting, her party is in the poll fray. Her daughter and media adviser Iltija Mufti is contesting from Bijbehara.