Even as the talks on government formation floundered between Bharatiya Janata Party and Peoples Democratic Party, the latter finding support from National Conference alongside a standing offer from Congress, looks like the whole gamut is going to continue for some more time. BJP has not softened its stand the reasons are obvious. The party has got the largest share of popular votes despite contesting fewer seats so it has the right to form the government for full tenure of six years rather than go for seat sharing with others. The mind game is on. The recent developments comes in amid a mini-revolt within the NC over reports that it was planning a tie up with BJP to form the government. The standoff is on the issue of rotational Chief Ministership and who to start first round. Both BJP and PDP are not ready to budge from their positions. As the parleys are one it looks Sajjad Lone of Peoples Conference may get a bigger role though party has bagged only two seats. This thought line comes after his much publicised meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the elections. The spotlight is more towards NC than PDP since NC won’t be in a position to stake a claim for the post of Chief Ministership given its 10-seat difference with BJP which suits saffron party much more than any alliance. A hard headed bargain is what can break the impasse and maintain a balance to address the needs of the State and if one believes senior BJP leader Ram Madhav’s statement that party believes in providing a stable government then it is an indication towards that direction. The handling of whole gamut is not an easy task to address but it is what the result demand from any combination emerging out of the ‘marriage of political convenience’. The BJP leadership has shown the capacity to think out of the box so the emergence of a totally unexpected political entity too cannot be ruled out seeing party’s position in the State. Any deviation sans BJP in government forming will leave its pitfall open and the continuity of the new set up would be a casualty for good governance in Jammu and Kashmir.
