What makes Mehbooba Mufti say in clear terms about no participation in government formation? Is it the internal pressure or the separatists calling the cards or the BJP leadership in New Delhi still testing waters? Now at least State as well as Central BJP leadership should not look to sit in the government as coalition partners. The marriage of convenience from the beginning was not on a stable keel because of the ideological differences. Today BJP may be pondering on the folly of becoming partner in government. The fallout of Jammu and Kashmir would no doubt will have some impact in the coming Assembly polls in the five states —West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu– later this year. The BJP must be working on regaining strategy and to revive the fallen stocks. After the setback in Bihar and amid a view that its governments in Gujarat and Haryana have lost some political capital owing to Patel and Jat agitations for reservations , the challenge before BJP is to regain its ground and push its expansion. BJP leaders admitted that the agitation – which is on similar lines as the Patel quota agitation in Gujarat – could snowball into a major crisis for the government at the Centre. The Gujarat Government had cracked down on protesters and arrested Hardik Patel on charges of sedition. But in the current scenario, when the party is already facing flak for its offensive against JNU students, such a move could backfire, BJP leaders said. Besides, they fear the agitation could spread to other states like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Antagonising Jats, a community that stood with the BJP in the last Lok Sabha and Haryana Assembly elections, would be damaging to the party’s prospects in Uttar Pradesh, where elections will be held next year.
