Shaheen joins ANC

Former Lok Sabha member and National Conference leader Abdul Rashid Shaheen today joined the Awami National Conference (ANC).
Shaheen, who was recently issued show cause notice by the National Conference for speaking publicly against senior party leaders including Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, joined the ANC, headed by Abdullah's estranged sister Khalida Shah.
A statement issued by the ANC quoted Shaheen as saying that the National Conference had deviated from the vision with which it was founded by Shiekh Mohammad Abdullah, father of Khalida Shah.
"The existing National Conference is not a party that was founded by Shiekh Mohammad Abdullah and that is why I have decided to quit the NC and join ANC that represents vision and aspirations of Shiekh Saheb," he said.

Shaheen said he was in touch with some of his former NC colleagues and political voices outside the state's ruling party to join hands with the ANC.
"It is the neglect shown by Farooq and his son Omar that has taken a toll of NC's popularity. This is why the NC lost all the three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley in recently-held polls," he said.
Shaheen alleged Farooq and Omar had sacrificed the agenda of the National Conference for the sake of power.