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| Govt formation: 'Alliance with PDP fine, no compromise on core agenda' | | | ET Report
JAMMU, Feb 11: The much-talked about meeting between some RSS and BJP top leaders did take place at Pt Deen Dayal Research Institute, New Delhi, but nothing concrete emerged out of it as far as Government formation in J&K was concerned. If anything, the outcome of the meeting only indicated that the Sangh Parivar is divided over the issue of Government formation.
The message from the meeting was that while most of the BJP leaders (all from Jammu, barring one) were for the early formation of the coalition Government under the leadership of the PDP, all the RSS leaders (three from Jammu and two from the RSS headquarters, Nagpur) were reportedly very cautious in their approach. Alliance with PDP fine, but no compromise on core agenda was perhaps their line.
A credible report on the outcome of the meeting quoting a credible source in this regard said: "The Central leadership of the Sangh Parivar had made it clear to the State BJP that the national interest should be the priority while re-stitching the alliance with the PDP in the only Muslim-majority State of the country. Although the RSS is not averse to the idea of re-stitching alliance with the PDP, the BJP leadership was cautioned that a wrong message should not go that the party has sacrificed its core agenda for enjoying power".
The said report further said: "Sangh leadership cautioned that accepting new conditions set by the PDP at this point of time would send a wrong message to the cadre so it would be better to buy time to convince the PDP leadership not to impose any preconditions for re-stitching the alliance".
This could be considered the most authentic report on the meeting and there are reasons for that. One of the reasons is that those who broke the story have close contacts both with the BJP and the RSS.
Very interestingly, senior RSS leader and former Prant Pracharak Indersh Kumar had also taken the same line when he was on a three-day tour to Jammu. He had gone to extent of equating J&K Constitution with the Pakistani Constitution, advised the PDP leadership to behave like an Indian party and declared that the BJP will not form Government with the PDP at the cost of its core ideology and at the cost of the patriotic people of Jammu.
The reported outcome of the meeting is important in one sense: It was the RSS that had permitted the BJP to stitch an alliance with the pro-self-rule PDP and had described the formation of the PDP-BJP coalition Government a unique experiment. So much so, the RSS had abandoned its core ideology for the sake of Government formation in J&K. As for the former RSS spokesperson and BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav is concerned, he had described the alliance between the two as pragmatic politics.
"Politics sometimes presents us with difficult choices - difficulty, but choice too. A pragmatic politician should look at the choices also, which we did in J&K. Contrary to propaganda in some sections, we didn't compromise even an inch on national or State interest, while exploring options to serve the people of the State for which an overwhelming mandate was given to us. But we proved in J&K that not compromise, but conviction is what drives our politics," he had said. The point is that he termed the dilution of the RSS' ideology as a manifestation of pragmatism. It is a different story that today he doesn't have the courage to show his face or face the general public in Jammu.
Very significantly, Ram Madhav also spoke on Wednesday on the possibility or no possibility of PDP-BJP alliance as well as on the new conditions set by the PDP. In fact, it indicated what the BJP was up to. "Talks were going on with PDP through some channels and we are hoping for early end to the political stalemate in the State. I shall be visiting Kashmir to discuss the issues raised by PDP leadership, but the date hasn't been finalized. It wouldn't be appropriate to comment at this stage (on the conditions set by the PDP," he was quoted as saying.
What Ram Madhav said was an indication that the BJP could go an extra mile to win over the PDP leadership. But more than that, it also suggested that there were some differences between the RSS and the BJP and it was because of those differences that the Delhi meeting between them did arrive at some definite decision on the Government formation.
What transpired in New Delhi meeting was one side of the story. The other side of the story is the view from Kashmir. In Kashmir, the general view is that the sudden death of the Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has the PDP "a golden opportunity to rethink on the alliance or apply pressure on New Delhi to give written assurance on the agenda before forming the Government again". Which means the people of Kashmir want the PDP to renegotiate the agenda of alliance and obtain from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi a written assurance that New Delhi shall not only meet all the financial needs of Kashmir but shall also give unqualified support to the PDP's endeavours aimed at accommodating Pakistan in this part of J&K, as also accommodating the Kashmiri separatists' view on the State.
Who will blink first is the question. If the PDP softens its stand on its reported pre-conditions, it will further lose its face and credibility in the Valley and it would be surely advantage the NC. And if the Prime Minister gives a written assurance to the PDP that the agenda of alliance shall be implemented in letter and spirit with a timeframe, he and the BJP will lose face across the country. Let's see who blinks first to face disastrous consequences. |
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