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| Something cooking up at BJP's Trikuta Nagar office | | Battle for Hindu/Muslim CM | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, July 8: The J&K BJP's leadership has, according to insiders, told its cadre that "they will form an alliance, only if its the rebel PDP MLAs are ready to make a Hindu as the Chief Minister of the state. At present, the sources have said that "14 PDP MLAs have expressed dissent from Mehbooba Mufti's leadership and are all set to join the BJP".
Earlier a former minister in the Mehbooba Mufti cabinet had said: "Nobody is willing to face elections and nobody wants to sit out of power for a quarter to three years. We have made the necessary arrangements. If all goes well with the Amarnath Yatra, we may make an announcement sometime in late August or early September".
All this only suggested that the BJP is making the necessary backdoor talks to form the government in Jammu & Kashmir. But the move taken by the Congress gave a new angle in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. It was said that the former Congress president Sonia Gandhi will hold a meeting with former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufi.
However, later on, the Congress made it clear that "they are not forming any alliance". Sources in the Congress said: "This was because they didn't want to form a government which will last only for few more months as the assembly elections will be held next year immediately after the Lok Sabha elections".
Now the question is why the other political parties other than the BJP are hesitant to form a government. This is just because all the J&K opposition parties like Congress and the National Conference had performed miserably in the past state elections. So they are planning to increase their seat shares in the upcoming elections. That's why they are demanding an early poll in Jammu and Kashmir instead of an alliance.
Immediately after the fall of the Mehbooba Mufti government, another top BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta had said: "Yes, we discussed government formation. It's true. We are looking at all possibilities. Maidan Khaali hai (field is empty). Everyone is looking for possibilities. Everything seems possible right now. Let's wait for the yatra to get over".
At present the BJP has got 25 seats and to form a government in J&K, a party needs to cross 44 seats. So the BJP must secure support not just from the rebel PDP MLAs but even from NC and Congress MLAs who are unhappy with their party leadership.
In the mean time, two more developments have taken place, one each in New Delhi and Srinagar. In New Delhi, BJP national general secretary and in-charge Jammu & Kashmir Ram Madhav, has said that "the BJP is for the continuation of the Governor's rule in the state as the BJP's first task is to restore peace in Kashmir". He has also said that "he would talk to the Jammu & Kashmir BJP leaders who have been saying that there would be a big announcement after the Amarnath Yatra was over that they in alliance with 'like-minded' MLAs will form coalition government".
The other development is that PDP MLAs, who have revolted against Mehbooba Mufti, have again reiterated that they would make common cause with the BJP subject to the condition that the "chief minister will be a Muslim from Kashmir", that the "BJP would help the new government implement the PDP-BJP agenda of alliance", and that "the BJP will not impose any new condition".
All this has created a sort of confusion in the state's corridors of power and political circles. What has added to the confusion is the fact that the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir has allowed the MLAs to use the constituency development funds (CDF). This has given the people to understand that there are elements in the establishment who are creating a situation that encourages in the words of former Chief Minister and NC Vice-President Omar Abdullah "horse-trading". |
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