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| Senior Minister annoys BJP high command | | NHPC power projects | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 22: Perhaps convinced that people of Jammu province have distanced themselves from the party owing to its various acts of omission and commission and its patently Kashmir-centric approach, the rattled and desperate BJP leadership has, it seems, decided to take some corrective measures to win back the trust of the estranged constituency.
It has fielded its newly appointed spokesperson to convince the people of Jammu province that the BJP has not dropped its core issues for the sake of power and that it is committed to integrating J&K with India.
The past few days saw this spokesperson issuing statements of national import and opposing Article 370 of the Indian Constitution under which the state enjoys a very special status in the Union. His statements and the stand he took on controversial Article 370 were not consistent with the PDP-BJP Agenda of Alliance. Besides demanding debate on Article 370 to find if it has benefited or harmed the people of the state and hampered or not hampered the process of integration of the state with India, the BJP spokesperson hailed NC president Farooq Abdullah and demanded arrest of independent MLA from Kashmir Engineer Rashid, who on October 7 hosted a beef party at MLA Hostel in Srinagar to hurt the sentiments of the Hindus. That he appreciated Farooq Abdullah's stand on cow slaughter and beef eating suggested many things.
But more than that, the BJP spokesperson virtually snubbed senior BJP leader for his "anti-India" stand on the NHPC-run power projects in J&K. The senior Minister had on March 28 and even thereafter asserted that the J&K Government will see to it that the NHPC-managed and controlled power projects were returned to it. "India is using our land and water," he said on several occasions while charging the NC and the Congress with handing over these projects to the NHPC. He did not name the Deputy Chief Minister but the party's message was loud and strong.
The BJP spokesperson recently condemned the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry for its demand seeking status of free economic zone for the state as well as its demand that sought return of the NHPC-run power projects to the J&K Government. Besides, he took on the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry leadership for its support to the demands put forth by the Kashmiri business captains.
Condemning the protagonists of free economic zone and return of the NHPC-managed power projects, the BJP spokesperson said that these demands, if accepted, will harm the sovereign interests of India in the State. "The joint statement of the traders of Kashmir and Jammu is ill motivated and has dangerous implications and consequences," he said, adding that the "demand of free economic zone is against the sovereignty and integrity of the country and it amounts to recognising Jammu and Kashmir as a separate independent country". He also summarily rejected the pernicious suggestion that the presence of the NHPC in J&K is "illegal" and asserted that all these projects were completed and commissioned as per the national policy on power.
"The power projects are constructed and installed by the Government of India through NHPC under the agreement that was signed by the State Government under the policy followed throughout the country. The joint statement of traders that these projects have been illegally occupied by the Government of India is ill conceived," he said.
It will not be out of place to mention here that the PDP-BJP Agenda of Alliance does contemplate transfer of Uri and Dul Hasti power projects from the NHPC to the J&K Government. The Agenda of Alliance, in addition, defends the State's special status and provides for a regime that considers Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists as stakeholders in J&K.
Notwithstanding the unambiguous stand the state unit of the BJP took on Article 370 and NHPC power projects in J&K, it is difficult to believe that the people of Jammu province will forgive the BJP for the sins it committed against them during the past more than eight months. The BJP has to translate its words into action and do something very concrete if it really wishes to win back the trust of the people of Jammu province. Mere statements will not help the BJP to refurbish its image. |
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