PDP and BJP joining hands once again to form the government in J&K have receded, despite a meeting in Delhi on Thursday between BJP president Amit Shah and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti. Mehbooba said that the Centre should first “restore the credibility of the agenda of alliance agreed upon by the two parties before joining hands in January last year”. BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, said that the PDP’s demands would be considered only after the state government is formed.
“But Mehbooba’s stand is clear. She thinks she can meet the Prime Minister only after the BJP leadership agrees to act upon the issues she has raised,’’ PDP sources said.
We are not accepting any new demands,” said BJP general secretary Ram Madhav. “Even if there is any demand it can be considered after the formation of the government. But forming a government on the basis of conditions is not possible,” he added. "The prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir is not because of us. After Mufti Saheb's death, PDP had to choose a leader for the chief minister's post," he said.
“There is no change in our stand. We have told them that a new government should be formed on the basis on conditions that existed earlier. As far as we are concerned the package existed, the promises existed, the ground realities were the same. Only difference was that Mufti sahib (former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) has passed away. We should have moved ahead. The PDP should have chosen someone as the Chief Minister,” said Madhav.
Senior PDP leader and MP Muzaffar Hussain Baig clarified that his party had no fresh demands and there "was some misunderstanding in the BJP". "They are not able to understand what our leader is saying," he added.
"It seems she (Mehbooba) didn't know what she wanted from the centre, and got tripped up because her demands were too vague and her response too erratic," former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted. "Watch how Mehbooba Mufti will now try and claim that her party wasn't asking for anything new and how the PM has let down Jammu and Kashmir," he added.
By Premji
