Moderate leader Abdul Ghani Bhat said he met the PDP patron as a friend, not as a politician.

Senior moderate Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Bhat met the patron of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, at the latter’s residence on Thursday, setting off speculation in political circles in the State.

While Mr. Bhat refused to acknowledge the meeting, it was confirmed by PDP sources. .

Mr. Bhat, a former Professor, has been largely relegated to the background in Kashmir’s political landscape, but his meeting with Mr. Sayeed gains importance given the political uncertainty after the recent Assembly election.

Mr. Bhat, who was a classmate of Mr. Sayeed in Kashmir and then at the AMU in Aligarh, told presspersons that even if he met the PDP leader, it was as friend and not as politician.

“If two friends meet, is it an issue? Mufti and I were class fellows since college days,” Mr. Bhat said.

Mr. Bhat’s organisation, Muslim Conference, is a constituent of the moderate Hurriyat led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, which is opposed to elections.

“Polls and formation of the new government can in no way affect the veracity of the Kashmir issue,” Mr. Bhat said.