Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 28: Sajad Lone may have been swearing in public that his romance with the BJP is over. However, what is making such claims suspicious is the statement issued by none other than the BJP's points man on Kashmir- Ram Madhav himself.
According to Ram Madhav while speaking to reporters in Srinagar, BJP is confident of winning two Jammu seats, Ladkah and Srinagar. He didn't even in his entire presser mentioned at a single instance the north Kashmir which is considered a bastion of its former ally Sajad Lone.
While Madhav gave NC and PDP left right and centre in his speech, he didn't use a single word against Peoples Conference headed by Sajad Lone which is more vocally than NC and PDP opposing the policies of the BJP like banning Jamaat-e- Islami, NIA raids on Hurriyat conference and crackdown on separatists.
"If BJP says it can win Srinagar, why it is reluctant to say the same about Baramulla constituency. The answer to this question could be Sajad Lone," was how one netizen reacted to Madhav's statement on social media.
There are also eyebrows being raised that whether the end of romance between BJP and Sajad Lone is all but a deception aimed at hoodwinking people. "BJP received flak over choosing Lone as its CM candidate. On the other hand, Lone too was cornered by his people for siding with the BJP. Both found it affordable to play divorce-divorce," says a scribe based in Srinagar.
This week only, in a bid of an image makeover, while accompanying the Lok Sabha candidate of his party from Baramulla parliamentary constituency, Lone said he has no relation with the BJP. While Lone, otherwise known for his sagacious approach while dealing with the media, was bashing NC, PDP and Congress, he lost his cool when a journo asked him whether BJP will support him and whether his party is still in alliance with the BJP. "I don't know from which school of journalism you have come," was angered Lone's reply to the media person. He further bashed him by saying that his party is contesting alone and doesn't enjoy external or internal support from any quarter. "You should know that BJP too is fielding its candidate from Baramulla constituency," Lone said.
As per the reports, this former separatist leader is these days busy in his image makeover, doing everything by virtue of which he wouldn't be called the BJP man in Kashmir.
Earlier, on November 22 that is a day after Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Peoples Conference Chairman Sajad Gani Lone had reiterated that his party had adequate numbers to form the government in the state.
Lone, who served as cabinet minister in previous BJP-PDP coalition in the state, claimed that he wrote letter to the Governor, staking claim for the formation of the government only after he was sure that he had enough numbers in the kitty. "I don't know about PDP and NC but we had numbers to form the government. Now when we have accepted Governor's decision to dissolve the assembly, the PDP which is making cry of a thief should move the court of law," Sajad said at that time. |
