Political Correspondent
JAMMU: Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Sunday asked the people of Jammu province to behave and not rake up any Jammu-specific issue, as the today’s BJP is not only a reformed BJP but also a party that is part of the J and K Government. The message to the people of Jammu province was given through Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and the message was as unambiguous as it was a sort of warning that New Delhi under the New dispensation will not appreciate any demand that is considered by the Kashmiri leadership anti-Kashmir or parochial.
The message was given in Jammu to the people of Jammu during a function. The MoS candidly told the people of Jammu province that they got more than what was their due share in the governance of the State on 1st March, when the BJP became part of the PDP-led Coalition Government after “breaking the jinx” in the Muslim-majority State. “The BJP leadership would not have a Jammu-centric approach like some political parties, which followed a Kashmir-centric approach, but that does not mean that Jammu would be allowed to suffer from injustice on any account,” he said, adding that the “BJP ministers in the State Government enjoy equal authority and say in every decision and, therefore, nobody should get away with the impression that the BJP is there in the coalition only to stay in power”.
The MoS expressed the view that those opposing the Common Minimum Programme are ill-informed. “Equitable development of all three regions is a part of the Common Minimum Programme of the Coalition Government and the BJP will ensure that Jammu also receives its due share in financial allocations and development projects,” he was very pleased to say. And by equitable development and equal share he meant the allotment of such portfolios to Kashmir of Home, Finance, Planning, General Administration Department, Revenue, Employment, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Tourism, Education, Agriculture, Public Works Department, Horticulture, Science and Technology, Rural Development, Relief and Rehabilitation, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Animal Husbandry, Labour, Culture, Floriculture and Parks, Information Technology, Technical Education, Youth Services and Sports. According to him, the allotment to Jammu of such portfolios as Power Development, Housing and Urban Development, Industries and Commerce, Health and Medical Education, Social Welfare, Forest, Ecology and Environment, Public Health Engineering and Transport meant equal distribution of portfolios. Most of these departments are in a complete shambles and in a bad shape.
Significantly, the MoS also didn’t regard the 15th May announcement as interference in the working of the BJP-held Health and Public Health Engineering Ministries by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed that “the AIIMS will be established in Kashmir” and the Tawi artificial lake project was not viable”. The Chief Minister made this statement in Jammu and the result was widespread resentment across Jammu province. Instead, the MoS gave the people of Jammu to understand that what the Chief Minister said was in accordance with the protocol and it would not be tolerated if the people of Jammu questioned the stand of the Chief Minister on the AIIMS and the artificial lake.
Something is fundamentally wrong with the PMO. It should have appreciated the people of Jammu province for the massive mandate that they gave to the BJP, but it was not to be. No wonder the people of Jammu province are seething with anger and threatening an agitation not only against the State Government but also against the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre.
