| Farooq not against tie up with BJP, Ruhullah for mid-term poll | | NC's double-speak | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 17: The out-of-power NC, which till the other day was highly critical of the PDP on the ground that it forged an alliance with the "communal" and "anti-Kashmir" BJP to grab power in J&K, on Saturday spoke with two voices.
President of the NC and former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah tried to fish in the troubled waters by making a statement that the NC would consider an alliance with the BJP if the latter approached the former. He said that the NC was not for Governor's Rule in the State and that's the reason that the NC would not mind working with the BJP.
"If such a proposal comes, then NC will call a Working Committee (meeting) and debate over it. If such a situation arises, the NC can think over it. The NC never shies away from playing its role," he said when asked whether his party is ready to consider a tie-up with the BJP for government formation.
The fact that Farooq Abdullah didn't reject the suggestion spoke for itself. He gave a clear hint to the BJP that the NC would be more than willing to do business with the saffron outfit. All this should call the NC's bluff and establish that its opposition to the PDP-BJP alliance and their coalition government was only for the sake of opposition and that the NC could also compromise its stand on the BJP for the sake of power. In the 87-member House, the BJP+ has 28 MLAs and the NC 15, one short than the required number of 44. If, on the one hand, Farooq Abdullah, who on Saturday suddenly came on to the surface, didn't say a word against the BJP and said that his party could consider a tie up with the BJP, if approached, the party's outspoken spokesperson, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, who is also MLA from Budgam, urged the PDP to snap ties with the BJP and batted for fresh elections. "If PDP is truly not hungry for power at the cost of its own dignity and much more importantly that of the state, they should break their opportunistic alliance with the BJP and give the people a chance to decide their fate in fresh elections rather than asking the Prime Minister for a face saver," the NC chief spokesman, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, said in a statement.
"While PDP is busy enacting a drama of a review in the media about its newfound conscience, they are unrelenting in seeking a face saver from the Prime Minister to market as some sort of a triumph that would enable them to continue with their alliance with the BJP. PDP has two very clear options, they either break their alliance with the BJP or they start delivering on the promises they had made in the agenda of the alliance. Everything else constitutes delusional exercises of futility," Mehdi also said.
What does all this show? It shows that the NC has indulged in a double-speak. It should not surprise anyone. After all, the NC leadership is known for this. Didn't it work with the BJP during the Vajpayee time? It did. And, if it could do business with or flirt with the BJP in the past, why can't it do the same now, when J&K has been gripped by political uncertainty or confusion over the government formation? |
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