ET Report
JAMMU, Mar 17: The BJP has decided to go defensive on the issue of the Masarat Alam. The BJP legislators will not rake up the issue of either his release or re-arrest in the Assembly. The BJP sources said doesn't want to give an impression in the House that the two parties BJP and PDP are at variance and thus giving an opportunity to the opposition to strike at the Government.
"The BJP has already made its reservation about the recent statements and actions of the government clear to the PDP. The statement disassociating with the actions of the CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had come directly from the Prime minister. So, there is no more point in raking up these issues," said a senior BJP leader, wishing not to be named.
The BJP, however, is also of the view that going soft on these issues could give an impression that it has gone soft on its supposedly 'nationalist' agenda. To counter this impression, the party MLAs will take on the issues of the Afzal Guru, which are likely to be taken by the National Conference in support of the independent legislator Engineer Rashid.
The BJP will be attending the House for the first time in the Treasury Bench. The party feels that it a 'historic' opportunity to make an impression before the House, thus before the people of the State.
"The people of the State, especially in the Kashmir, have been till now viewing BJP as an opposition party confined to certain pockets of the Jammu. It' s an opportunity to show before the people, that party is pan-State and represents will and aspirations of the people of all the three regions," said a senior BJP leader.
It's for this reason that the party while will not showcase as against the sentiment of the people of the Kashmir, while it will also send a message that it will not allow anything that will be seen as anti-national. |
