J&K: BJP Pulls Out!

SRINAGAR: Pushing the border state of Jammu and Kashmir into political uncertainty, the BJP, the alliance partner in the coalition government ruling the state, today announced it was pulling out of the very unpopular alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party.

The decision was announced by the BJP’s key strategist for J&K Ram Madhav who had cobbled the alliance with the former J&K finance minister and PDP leader Haseeb Drabu in 2015. Drabu was also unceremoniously sacked by the PDP earlier this year.

According to reports, the decision was taken by the BJP’s national president Amit Shah after meeting with the party’s ministers in the state who were called to the national capital yesterday. "It has become untenable for the BJP to continue in the alliance government," Madhav told the media in New Delhi.

Two months of parleys and backdoor negotiations later, the PDP and the BJP had formed the alliance in 2015 after they emerged as the biggest parties with 28 and 25 seats respectively in 2014 J&K assembly elections, with Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed nominated as the chief minister of J&K.

The death of Sayeed a year later sparked fresh uncertainty in J&K as Mufti’s daughter Mehbooba Mufti delayed her decision to continue the alliance after his death and the state came under Governor’s rule.

With the BJP pulling out, the state is likely to come under Governor's rule and an announcement in this regard will be made soon, officials said.

The ‘unholy’ alliance of ‘north pole and south pole’ has fallen apart amid growing tensions between the two parties over the resumption of peace process with Islamabad and talks with internal stakeholders, including the Hurriyat leadership.

Although what prompted the BJP to pull out of the alliance was not immediately known, the alliance had become nearly untenable due to the ideological difference between the two parties which often put the government headed by chief minister Mehbooba Mufti in a tight spot on many occasions.

The lack of any positive movement on the ‘Agenda of the Alliance’, including the return of the power projects, and Mehbooba’s push for Kashmir talks with the reluctant New Delhi, may also have played a role, sources said.