BLUNT BUTCHER
JAMMU: BJP high command is upbeat over PDP issuing clarifications, one after another, to send a word around that no condition has been laid for formation of government in Jammu and Kashmir.
After official tweet handle of the PDP, senior leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig went on record saying that no new condition has been set for continuing alliance with the BJP. He virtually termed the boorish statement of Ram Madhav as misunderstanding and emphasised resumption of consultations to form the government.
The low-lying PDP overtures are enough to alleviate the otherwise dampened spirits of the BJP, which is now trying to play ‘master-strokes’. Believe BJP enthusiasts; they will say that Mehbooba Mufti is enacting drama by raking up CBMs and laying conditions to address to her core-constituency in the Kashmir Valley. They believe the PDP will fall in line and continue the alliance, as per agreed Agenda of Alliance. One of the enthusiasts told select reporters, “Mehboobaji Purani Tankhah Par Hi Kaam Karegi”. (Mehbooba Mufti will work on whatever wages are given to her). He went on saying that the BJP knows how to crush egos and make adversaries behave.
The BJP is citing, what they call ‘erratic’ temperament of the PDP chief as a major stumbling block in putting the government in place. They want to teach the senior coalition partner a lesson so that they behave for rest of the term. They want to set a tone where-under the PDP will be forced to obey the diktats from Jhandewalla. They don’t want to provide any opportunity to Mehbooba Mufti to claim victory, which is why the agreement to vacate land under army occupation is being made with the Governor, rather than a political government, which till last evening was likely to take shape in a couple of days.
The flexibility being shown by the PDP, after Mehbooba Mufti’s maiden meeting with BJP supremo Amit Shah (after the demise of former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed) is seen as a weakness of the Kashmir centric party. The votaries of such a perception are citing the statement of the senior PDP leader and MP Muzaffar Baig to justify their contentions. Baig gores on saying, “I cannot say with certainty whether the government will be formed or not. But as far as I know, Mehbooba Mufti has not set any new conditions before BJP to form the government again. She has asked the BJP to ensure the Agenda of Alliance is implemented if they formed the government.”
Even a novice in politics will take this statement as ‘surrender’, especially when this is coming after Ram Madhav saying that BJP will not form the government under new conditions set by the PDP. He (Madhav) was very candid in declaring, “And the chances of government formation seem very remote”.
The statements and counter-statements are amusing the opponents like National Conference and Congress. They are watching the developments with keen interest and not missing any opportunity in cornering the PDP. For National Conference, the PDP is bigger ‘evil’ than the BJP. This may be the motivation for Omar Abdullah to rake up ‘secret meeting’ issue or questioning as to what was wrong in the Agenda of Alliance, agreed upon by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.
Putting these developments in right perspective, one just wonders how can a fighting politician like Mehbooba Mufti allow such a situation where PDP will find itself humiliated and belittled in the eyes of people. There seems to be more than what meets the eyes. The fighter as she is, who won two successive elections for her father, is not going to give up so easily. Analysing her persona, she is all set to strike back. And who, knows it may be today, when she will turn tables on the BJP by exposing it. She may go public in admitting how the saffron party ditched her father, making him to die as a dejected man. Is the upbeat atmosphere in Jhandewalla going to turn into despair? Time alone will tell!
