Will never accept new conditions by PDP: BJP

Jammu

BJP today said it was in touch with several PDP legislators who were in favour of government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, but added it will “never” accept new conditions for alliance put forth by Mehbooba Mufti.

“Several PDP legislators who are in favor of the formation of the government in the state and who also don’t want midterm polls in the state are in touch with the BJP leadership for the formation of the government,” BJP legislator Ravinder Raina said.

The Nowshera MLA said the party would stick to the Agenda of Alliance that had been agreed upon with PDP a year ago, adding that any deviation would amount to disrespecting former late Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

“There is no question of accepting the new conditions laid down by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the BJP for the formation of government in Jammu and Kashmir. I have come to know that she (Mehbooba) has put forth new conditions, but BJP will never accept them. We will strictly follow the Agenda of Alliance that was agreed upon between the two parties a year ago,” he said.

He said BJP has “several options” to form government in the state, if the alliance with PDP breaks down, but would disclose them “when the time comes”.

The need of the hour for both the alliance partners (PDP and BJP) was to form government based on mutual trust and respect the aspirations of the people of Jammu and the people of Kashmir regions, he said.

“People of Jammu gave a thumping majority to BJP while people of Kashmir voted for PDP, hence it is time for both the parties to provide a democratically elected government to the people, as Governor’s rule is no substitute to it,” Raina said.

Asked whether the BJP would encourage defection within PDP, he said that his party would do no such thing.

“More than half of the legislators who were elected to the assembly are first timers and none of them want midterm polls. If the PDP does not come ahead to form the government we will explore other options,” he said.

Raina said BJP will not “surrender” its ideology and would follow its “nationalistic policies”, including in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Area wise and population wise Jammu is far bigger than Kashmir valley, but we have less number of assembly seats, we will continue to fight for the delimitation of the assembly seats, we will continue to fight for the refugees from west Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK),” he said.

Committed to governance in J-K:Jaitley, Mehbooba likely to come to Delhi tomorrow

Srinagar/New Delhi

As the deadlock over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir continued, the BJP today said it is fully committed to the agenda of governance in the state while PDP President Mehbooba Mufti is likely to make a second trip in five days to Delhi tomorrow.

Mehbooba Mufti is also likely to call a meeting of senior party leaders in the coming days to clear the “misgivings” about the stalemate over government formation.

Though issues of government formation in J and K did not come up for discussion at BJP’s National Executive meet which concluded in Delhi today, senior party leader and Union Minister Arun Jaitley said the political resolution emphasised the party’s commitment to the ‘agenda of governance’ in J and K.

“We stand fully committed as far as agenda of governance is concerned,” Jaitley told reporters on the issue of government formation in J and K.

In Srinagar, sources in the PDP said Mehbooba is likely to go to Delhi tomorrow.

The sources also said the PDP president is likely to hold a meeting with senior party leaders in the next few days to inform them about the last week’s developments on government formation.

The sources said the date of the meeting has not been finalised yet as several senior party leaders are stuck in Jammu “due to closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway”.

The PDP and the BJP failed to end the deadlock as the meeting between their respective party presidents — Mehbooba and Amit Shah on Thursday –could not make any headway.

BJP MLA Ravinder Raina said the party will “never” accept new conditions for alliance put forth by Mehbooba Mufti.

“Several PDP legislators who are in favor of the formation of the government in the state and who also don’t want midterm polls in the state are in touch with the BJP leadership for the formation of the government,” Raina told reporters in Jammu.

While BJP said it could not form the government based on fresh conditions put forth by the PDP, the regional party maintained that there were no new demands made by it but it only wanted assurances on a timeframe for implementation of the “Agenda of Alliance” agreed between the two parties last year.

“The BJP is trying to give an impression that the PDP is making some new demands for the government formation which is not true. We only want implementation of the agenda of alliance.These misgvings have to be cleared,” PDP sources said.

The sources said the issues flagged by the PDP president during her meeting with BJP top leaders are part of the agenda of alliance which was finalised by PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed with the national party.

“The PDP president has made it clear time and again that she will stand by her father’s decision of forming an alliance with the BJP as he was convinced that it is in the interests of the people of the state. All that Mehbooba wants to ensure is that the promises made to her father in terms of political initiatives and economic progress of the state see the light of the day,” they said. PTI