Hinting that her party was not in a hurry to form the Government in Jammu & Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday admitted that her party was on crossroads of chalking out the future course of action. She said her decision would be in the interests of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
Mehbooba was speaking to her party workers from Srinagar on the launch of a membership drive, the first political initiative of PDP after the demise of its founder and former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed on January 7.
The public meeting was significant in the wake of a deadlock in the Government formation due to Mehbooba’s reluctance to take oath. This was due to pending concrete assurances from the central Government over time-bound accomplishment of targets set in ‘agenda of alliance’, a document compiled by PDP and BJP to form a coalition last year. The coalition Government fell with the demise of Mufti Sayeed.
Interestingly, Mehbooba left for New Delhi soon after addressing the party workers to attend the upcoming Budget Session of the Parliament. She is expected to continue her talks with BJP leadership on Government formation. On February 17, she held first round of talks with BJP general secretary Ram Madhav in Srinagar but no headway was made even though both sides appeared to be positive on the process.
“We would continue to work towards accomplishing the vision of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to create a space of dignity, opportunity and prosperity for the people of Jammu & Kashmir,” Mehbooba said and justified the delay in Government formation. “Both in 2002 and 2015, the PDP’s power sharing arrangement either with the Congress or with the BJP took time and effort to materialise, as the party wanted to ensure adequate safeguards for the State’s dignity and interests of its people”, she said.
“Our party has established clear political priorities and we would continue our struggle to seek resolution of the multiple problems faced by Jammu and Kashmir on political, economic, administrative and financial fronts,” Mehbooba said.
She said that the Government formation is linked to accomplishment of the vision of Mufti Muhammad sayeed. “If this agenda is taken forward, Government formation will take no time”, she said.
She justified her father’s decision to align with BJP even as she has described the alliance as “unpopular”. “After the 2014 Assembly elections, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed again took an atypical decision of aligning with BJP as he knew Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a decisive mandate at his back and he can revive the peace and reconciliation process in the State and the region”, she said.
“My father was ready for electoral loss but wanted to take the people of the State out of this uncertainty. He was of the belief that Mr Narendra Modi with such a huge mandate can take the State out of its troubles if he is able to convince him about the need for India-Pakistan friendship and resolution of outstanding issues,” she said. She said that senior Mufti was happy over Modi’s Pakistan outreach even when he was battling for life at New Delhi hospital.
She said Mufti wanted cordial ties with Pakistan and he tirelessly worked towards realising this objective. He used to repeatedly reiterate the inevitability of maintaining peace along the borders and expanding the scope and sphere of cross loC movement of people and trade. “On the internal front Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was a strong votary of espousing the constitutional methods of finding resolution to the political problem and the issues confronting Jammu and Kashmir, while also safeguarding the State’s distinct identity and the special status,” she said.
She urged her party workers not to lose hope and continue to support her during this time. “My father symbolised hope and satisfaction. His legacy is not CM’s chair but the people of J&K. He always took the road not taken and he proved himself right”, she claimed.