| While there has been nearly a month's delay in the formation of the coalition government in J&K, which slipped into a state of political uncertainty after the death of sitting chief minister Mufti Mohammad Syed on January 7, there is still a hope that BJP and PDP would sit together and iron out the 'differences' to again stitch up the alliance. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and BJP leaders were today invited by Governor N N Vohra to spell out their stand on the government formation. A few BJP leaders had yesterday flew to New Delhi to seek guideline from party president Amit Shah. They returned today and, ahead of the meeting with the governor, BJP reached out to Mehbooba, with ex-deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh visiting her at the state guest house in Jammu. Mehbooba has already termed her party's alliance with BJP during her father's time as 'unpopular'. What makes the alliance so noteworthy is the fact that the two parties ran the government despite being ideologically poles apart. While BJP has its 'maximalist' stance on Article 370, AFSPA and, more recently, West Pakistan Refugees, PDP's stand has been quite opposite. Mehbooba, who has hinted broadly that she is not averse to fresh elections, today made it clear after meeting the governor that her terms for renewing ties with BJP were non-negotiable. While BJP has been happy to have shared power in the state for the first time since Independence, PDP is very cautious, especially after the Mufti's demise. It would not like to risk its constituency and any step, it takes to renew partnership with BJP, would be taken with a view to further consolidate its position in the Valley and not to weaken it. Some PDP leaders had in the past campaigned by claiming to have the nod of militants and separatist sentiment in Kashmir. This is likely to go against BJP in its nationalist constituency. It has been observed that PDP's stand on government formation has been firm, and aggressive while that of BJP has been submissive. But the notion now seems to be to try and gain the maximum by allying with the party in power in Delhi and the expectation is that there will be a status quo on the contentious issues, with a focus on the state's development. If that works out, it will be to the advantage of the state, with the additional possibility of bridging the gap between the regions of Jammu and Kashmir. |
