Govt. Formation in JK should'nt be delayed ;PDP-BJP should work it urgently

Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N.Vohra directive to People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and BJP to make their position clear for formation of the popular government in the state was  a timely action as the political situation in the sensitive border state can not be allowed to remain fluid for a long period But Mehbooba’s meeting with him in Jammu has not cleared the suspense over the government formation. The BJP has also sought ten days time to work out strategy for coalition’s survival.

Both the partners will have to abridge the trust deficit and for that a slew of steps must be initiated from both the sides.Contentious issues like Release of Jailed separatist Masrat Alam and his rearrest,beef ban debates, renewed controversy over state’s flag, flood relief measures have already generated lot  of differences between the two sides.

The situation in the Assembly was also not very conducive as it had witnessed fighting with a ruling party MLA .Now, both the allies have placed their cards before the governor, but suspense remains intact .

The state is under the President’s Rule for more than three weeks after ce the demise of State Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on Jan 7.

It was only after NN Vohra’s call,urgency started in both the camps and they held in camera meetings of their leaders in Srinagar and Jammu. Mr  NN Vohra,an ace  bureaucrat and state’s governor, has asked them to clarify position . Let us see, how much time is now taken to end the stalemate, which is to be ended by New Delhi’s intervention.

Asserting that she is not as experienced and visionary as the late Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Ms. Mehbooba Mufti has said the BJP-led Centre must assure confidence building measures for the state of Jammu and Kashmir if they want to form the government.

''It’s all about CBMs. ''Government must create such an environment that the vacuum created after Sayeed shall be filled and the Centre must think how to give a fillip to the new government formation,'' Ms Mehbooba has said.
  

The PDP leader asserted that Sayeed in his last speech also talked about peace and dialogue with  neighboring Pakistan. Ms Mehbooba said Mufti Sayeed had the most wonderful goodwill after former (late) Chief Minister Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, and was the only leader, who used to visit downtown area of Kashmir and interact with people.'People were skeptical both in Kashmir and Jammu as well after PDP-BJP alliance as they were not happy but in the last 10 months, Mufti Sayeed visited heart of the city in Kashmir Valley.

As far as peace talks with Pakistan is concerned ,Modi has initiated a number of steps but the Pathankot incident has marred the process and the two can not be linked too.

 ‘’The BJP at the Centre must address every issue of all the three regions of people in the state before going ahead with the government formation,’’ the PDP president said and added that be it Jammu, Kashmir or Ladakh, all the different regions have to face many challenges.

 The PDP wants a a time bound commitment  for handling of core issues  of Economy and Politics. The  BJP is firming up its stand rather than kowtowing PDP dictates and State BJP chief Nirmal Singh is of the opinion that the coalition should continue but uncompromising stands of any of the partners is feasible.

Tone and Tenor of the People’s Democratic party (PDP) has changed ever since departure of the state’s CM Mufti Sayeed.Ms.Mehbooba Sayeed on one pre text or the other aired her reservations to go ahead with the current coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in the sensitive border state.

The State  is now witnessing a fluid political situation and the Principal opposition party National Conference (NC ) says that the state can not wait for long ,and now it is almost a month now that the state government has not been formed.

In the house of 87,BJP has 25 members against PDP’s 28 and magic number of 44 ,required for majority in the house. The National Conference has 15 and Congress  has 12 ( 17 in last Assembly) and others have 5 members. PC ( People’s conference of Sajjad  Lone ) has 2. NC had 28 in last polls.NC chief Omar Abdullha had won from Beerwah by a margin of about 1,000 votes but had lost Sonawar seat. JKPDF ( Secular) and CPM had one each while three independents had won. 

Mehbooba, coming over shock and grief of her personal loss ,is back on the stage and asserted recently in party’s  representatives “Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took a courageous, although unpopular, decision of aligning with BJP with the hope that the Central Government headed by Mr Narendra Modi will take decisive measures to address the core political and economic issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir and its people. ‘unfortunately, instead of partnering with and implementing Sayeed’s vision of bringing peace, stability and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir, certain quarters, both within J&K and in New Delhi, have started overtly and covertly triggering frequent controversies over avoidable contentious issues resulting in wastage of the state government’s energies in firefighting and propitiation.  

In such violative circumstances around, we will have to reassess whether we can absorb the shocks which Mufti Saheb had to do so frequently in his effort to forge reconciliation between the regions and the people of the State,” .she says core political and economical issues must be addreseed .The Centre shall have to take substantive measures towards implementation of the PDP-BJP “Agenda of Alliance” in the interest of peace and stability in J&K and for this PDP needs a set time frame to be worked out.

Now ,the PDP is reassessing  whether the Central Government is ready to trust the people of Jammu and Kashmir and carry out implementation of ‘Agenda of Alliance’  ( AoA)with sincerity of purpose.Mufti said as has been made clear in the ‘Agenda of Alliance’, it is aimed at sequencing the political process and the economic development and striking the right balance between the two to create a virtuous cycle of peace and prosperity that will accord normal life to the coming generations, “especially those regions who have lived in perpetual strife and conflict.
“It has been further made clear in the Agenda of Alliance that the present position will be maintained on all the constitutional provisions pertaining to J&K, including the special status in the Constitution of India,” she said.  The coalition government in the state,  Ms Mufti said, will seek to support and strengthen the approach and initiatives taken by the government to create a reconciliatory environment and build stakes for all in the peace and development within the sub-continent, including normalization of relations with Pakistan.
   “Instead there were some recurrent unsettling developments which led to lack of congenial atmosphere and had a negative impact even on the good work done on the governance front,” she said. PDP is expecting some tangible  measures from the present Government at the Centre to carry forward and take to the logical conclusion, the reconciliation process which was initiated and worked effectively between 2002 and 2005,”.All these measures have already been enumerated in detail in the Agenda of Alliance and the only thing needed is its implementation with sincerity of purpose.
“We can’t form a government just for the sake of power,” she said and added that if a Government is to be formed it will have to address the core political and economic issues confronting J&K to ensure lasting peace and prosperity of the State and its people.