Mehbooba’s quagmire |
January 25 2016 |
After Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s death, politics in Jammu and Kashmir is caught in a tight spot. Mehbooba Mufti has old issues with the BJP, and people in the BJP, too, don’t like her. Sources say Mehbooba had a meeting with some top leaders of the Congress; the party wants that just like in Bihar, an anti-BJP front be formed in the state. In the same strategy, PDP, National Congress, and the Congress should jointly form a government there. There is one catch though – the BJP holds sway over the entire Jammu area, and BJP MLAs have been chosen from the area. So if a government is formed by excluding the BJP, the entire Jammu region will be ignored and Srinagar will not find it easy to run a government smoothly if that happens. The BJP is clear on its strategy for Jammu and Kashmir; it wants the President’s rule should run for a longer period in the state, and then fresh elections be held there. In any case, governor Vora has learnt how to sing the saffron party’s tunes, and the BJP has no issues with President’s rule. The BJP also knows that Mehbooba has a lot of opposition within the PDP itself, and as time passes, dissidence in the party will become a clear possibility. If that happens, Mehbooba might bow down and might give in to saffron party’s ambitions. |
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