Srinagar:Top Shia leader quits National Conference and joins Mehbooba Mufti's PDP.

Two days before polling in the by-election in Srinagar, prominent Shia leader Agha Syed Mohsin on Friday switched allegiance from National Conference (NC) and joined the ruling Peoples Democratic party (PDP) lead by Mehbooba Mufti .

Hailing from a prominent religious family of Budgam, Mohsin was welcomed into the party fold by Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, a spokesman of the party said.

Mohsin is the son of political activist and religious scholar late Agha Syed Mustafa and uncle of NC leader and former minister Agha Syed Ruhullah.

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Mohsin said he had been observing the functioning of the PDP for long and had come to the conclusion that it was the only political party that worked for the interests of the poor, marginalised and backward communities in Jammu and Kashmir.

He had joined the NC in 2014.

The Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, spread over the three Assembly seats of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal, will go to polls on Sunday. NC president Farooq Abdullah is contesting the seat against PDP's Nazir Ahmad Khan. Abdullah had contested and lost from the seat in the 2014 general election.