BackMehbooba Mufti seeks more steps from BJP
PDP seeks assurance on AFSPA, alliance agenda and for BJP to refrain from commenting on controversial issues
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New Delhi: Uncertainty over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir continued on Tuesday as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti demanded “confidence building measures" from the central government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership to help revive the alliance between the two parties.
Jammu and Kashmir governor N.N. Vohra had invited Mehbooba Mufti and the BJP leadership on Tuesday for talks on government formation. The BJP delegation that met the governor said it needed 8-10 days to complete the government formation process on its part.
The BJP leaders said they want the two parties to come together for development and peace in the state. The PDP and the BJP formed the ruling alliance in the state in March 2015 but a stalemate following chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s death on 7 January this year has created a political vacuum in the sensitive border state.
Mehbooba Mufti did not elaborate on the confidence building measures her party expects from the BJP, but said the state faces different kinds of challenges and there were several forces which needed to be tackled.
“The governor wanted to know where we are on government formation. Jammu and Kashmir is a different state, there are different challenges. In Jammu and Kashmir, there are several forces which need to be tackled. We need the centre to be fully with us. I don’t have that vision which Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had, neither have I the experience right now. Before formation of a new J&K government, I want the central government to take some confidence building measures for the region," she said soon after meeting Vohra.
According to senior leaders of the PDP, Mehbooba Mufti wants assurances from the top leadership of the BJP on three specific issues: phasing out of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA); a time-bound implementation of the agenda of the alliance; and for the BJP state unit leaders to refrain from commenting on controversial issues such as beef ban and Article 370.
Mehbooba Mufti wants an assurance on these three specific demands from the top leadership of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah.
During the day, senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh met Mehbooba Mufti to discuss government formation but there was no breakthrough. BJP leaders in the centre and state are keen to form a government with the PDP, while central leaders want the two parties to form the government on the basis of the “Agenda of Alliance" which was drawn up by Sayeed and Modi last year.
“We are in favour of continuing this alliance with PDP," said Nirmal Singh, after meeting Vohra. However, most BJP leaders are against giving more assurances to the PDP chief, arguing the government must be formed on the basis of the earlier understanding between the two parties.
Senior leaders of the BJP argue there should be no further delay in the government formation process and that the democratic process must continue.
“The PDP and the BJP are the two bigger parties in the state. It is for the PDP to explain why there is a delay in government formation. The PDP has to choose its leader. The BJP is ready to form government under Mehbooba Mufti. The agenda of alliance must be upheld for government formation because it talks about governance and development," said a senior central BJP leader.
Political analysts said the democratic process should be allowed to resume in the state at the earliest, and that the two parties should once again come together to form the government. “Both the PDP and the BJP should not keep Jammu and Kashmir in a political limbo. The people of Jammu and Kashmir want the political process to start and there should be no further delay in the process," said Ellora Puri, political analyst and political science professor at Jammu University.
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