Ram Madhav didn’t even call CM, says PDP. BJP source claims Rajnath had informed Mehbooba of decision on Sunday.
New Delhi: With the BJP having pulled out of the Jammu and Kashmir government, the party and its once coalition partner in the state, the PDP, Tuesday contradicted each other on the sequence of events leading up to their bitter separation.
The PDP claimed that the BJP’s point person on J&K, Ram Madhav, didn’t even speak to outgoing chief minister Mehbooba Mufti before pulling the plug on the coalition.
“Ram Madhav called the chief minister this morning but she was away and couldn’t take his call. So, no, we had no formal indication that the BJP was pulling out of the government,” senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar told ThePrint.
Sources in the BJP, however, said Union home minister Rajnath Singh had called Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday and informed her of his party’s decision to break the alliance. “Mufti had told Singh that BJP should do as it feels but if the party goes ahead, any political alliance with the BJP would not be possible in the future,” said a highly-placed source.
While the PDP says it wasn’t formally informed, it, however, admits that it isn’t entirely surprised by the BJP’s decision.
Akhtar said the “signs had been there for about a couple of months”, especially when the BJP accused the PDP of “not doing enough” to crack down on terrorism in the Valley.
“So, yes, we were not formally told, but let me add that we are not shocked. The end of an alliance between the North Pole and the South Pole should not shock anyone,” he added.
“There is no regret. We are leaving on a high. There are no emotions in politics. We will take our own course of action. For now, we are resigning,” he said.
Distrust on both sides
The two sides, however, agreed that there had been distrust between them.
Sources in the BJP said there was a growing fear in the party that the PDP was allegedly allowing terrorism to grow in the state. A senior BJP leader said the party’s J&K leaders were troubled by the alliance. “The cadre was unhappy. The PDP ideology wasn’t in tune with that of the BJP,” the leader added.
The Centre, the BJP leader said, was briefed about the loss of support within the state not just for the BJP but also for the PDP. “People don’t trust both parties and it seems impossible to win seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Knowing that the party has no chance, it was better to exit the alliance prematurely and think of ways to save Kashmir,” the leader said.
The PDP says that while it too had wanted to exit the coalition government on several occasions, it decided against it as it did not want to be the “first to withdraw from the alliance”.
A PDP source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the party had made the decision when Mehbooba’s father, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, pushed for an alliance with the BJP after the December 2014 elections.
“If we had withdrawn, and trust me, there were several occasions over the last two-and-a-half years when we felt so hamstrung but swallowed our own anger, we would have been labelled ‘untrustworthy,’ or ‘disloyal’,” the PDP source said, adding that the party had decided it would never give an opportunity for the opposition to blame it on the issue.
Akhtar, the senior PDP leader, added, “We are satisfied that we had set out on a course to resolve Jammu and Kashmir politically through reconciliation. We did everything from dialogue to interlocutor to ceasefire… Ultimately, the BJP found to do something more.”
The ceasefire conundrum
With the BJP parting ways with the PDP after the Centre announced that it would not extend the Ramzan ceasefire, the spectre of the announcement hung over proceedings Tuesday.
Outgoing chief minister Mehbooba Mufti alluded to this during her press conference.
“We wanted to integrate the state’s regions — Jammu, Ladakh and the Kashmir Valley — and we did that. We were instrumental in letting off 11,000 Kashmiri youth who had unnecessary FIRs lodged against them. We believe that dialogue is the only answer so we pushed for a ceasefire during Ramzan,” she said.
“But if the BJP wants a muscular policy, then that is not the answer,” she added.
Hours earlier, state BJP president Ravinder Raina had said, “There is no ‘cease’, there is only fire in the state.” He was referring to the continuing militancy in the state during the “cessation of operations” during Ramzan.
Sources in the BJP said NSA chief Ajit Doval had met BJP president Amit Shah Tuesday morning, ahead of Shah’s meeting with BJP ministers and leaders from Jammu and Kashmir.
The Doval-Shah meeting, sources said, was to chalk out operational logistics in the state once the BJP withdrew support.
With inputs from Rahiba Parveen
How sad and obnoxious is this:
“Sources in the BJP said NSA chief Ajit Doval had met BJP president Amit Shah Tuesday morning, ahead of Shah’s meeting with BJP ministers and leaders from Jammu and Kashmir.
The Doval-Shah meeting, sources said, was to chalk out operational logistics in the state once the BJP withdrew support.”
There is not even a pretense of constitutional governance in the country!
Admitted that shri Modi knows very little of governance.
He is ok to rely on officials though that reflects poorly and his inherent leadership qualities.
But to interface the NSA of the country with party president is something abominable for constitutional governance.
During the Uttarakhand high court judgement against unconstitutional imposition of president ‘s rule, the Attorney general of India, the Home Secretary, I think shri Arun Jaitley and some others ran to the private residence of shri Amit shaw to take instructions on how to handle the matter in Supreme Court!
Has the governance been so unconstitutional even during Emergency? I do not know. Senior leaders of some substance in bjp, rss and other parties personally well versed with governance should be able to enlighten themselves and us all ordinary folk.
It is extremely saddening!
Shri Doval has been with government and governance during different parties in power at the union of India.
Right or wrong be his advice, he ought to be loyal to the country, and not even remotely to any political party. No NSA OR ANY OTHER SENIOR OR CONSTITUTIONAL FUNCTIONARY SHOULD BE SO!
Bitterness and acrimony are better avoided. The party that pulls the plug, before its partner does, cannot disown the track record of the government. On all issues relating to security, it was the writ of the Centre that prevailed. 2. Given her youth and relative lack of administrative experience, CM Mehbooba Mufti would have found it much more difficult to have her voice heard than Mufti Saheb could have managed to. Had she been granted more space, things could have been a little less fraught. Instead of appointing a retired official as Special Representative, that delicate task of talking to all stakeholders, starting with the Hurriyat, could have been entrusted to her. 3. Difficult to see how the fall of the state government – a sort of shock absorber cum safety valve – and the imposition of Governor’s rule will improve the ground situation. It is not as if the state has been diffident in the use of force, especially since July 2016, the period covered by the UNHRC report. Apart from diplomatic considerations, an unduly harsh approach will only add to alienation. 4. The only person who has gained today is Mr Omar Abdullah. He will be the next CM.