PDP-BJP ties must not succumb to mischief
The other day, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah remarked that his party would not hesitate to pull out of the ruling alliance in Jammu & Kashmir if it had to compromise on core issues of national security. Earlier, another senior leader of the party had said that security and sovereignty of the country, and not being in Government in the State, was its priority. There is no argument with these positions. But it must be kept in mind that for both the BJP and the Peoples Democratic Party, its ally in Jammu & Kashmir, parting ways is the simplest way to throw in the towel and consequently seek to score political points.
The more challenging task is to make the alliance work not just for the political good of the respective parties but for the people of the State who expect growth and development through a stable regime. There will be rabble-rousers on both the sides who will stir the pot. They are the ones who are uncomfortable with the alliance and the prospect of its success. Then there are the political opponents of the PDP and the BJP who, having been marginalised by the voters and in Government formation, are itching to do their bit to fuel rancour and destabilise the alliance. Mr Omar Abdullah of the National Conference has been, on a near daily basis, taunting the PDP and the BJP for having ‘abandoned' their ideologies.
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had given him and the leaders of the Congress on a platter a few issues such as the release of separatist Masarat Alam and the Chief Minister's thanksgiving to militants and Pakistan for having ‘allowed' a peaceful State election. While even the BJP kicked up a fuss on these matters, it is good to see that the dust has settled down and both the PDP and the BJP have got down to the important business of governance. The two parties have got, as the Mufti has been saying repeatedly, a historic opportunity to change the socio-political narrative of the State, and they must not betray the mandate of the people. A sense of mutual accommodation is essential for any alliance to prosper — and in this case the level of cooperation has to be many times over, given the diametrically opposite ideological positions the PDP and the BJP have had. Yet, if they have been able to strike a deal through what is called the Agenda for Alliance, they should be able to sustain the partnership in a meaningful way by adhering in both letter and spirit to this agenda.
Both the parties will have hopefully learned from the false starts. For the PDP, the lesson is that it must freely communicate with its partner on all issues of decision-making in Government. The Alam controversy, for instance, would not have caused a strain on the trust if the Chief Minister had explained the legal position to the BJP and taken it on board before making the announcement. Similarly, BJP leaders must be careful in not publicly slamming Mr Sayeed, because by launching open frontal attacks, they will only provide the opposition parties, waiting in the wings for the coalition to collapse, ammunition to undermine the Government, and in the process ridicule the BJP as well. It's a test by fire for the BDP and the BJP in Jammu & Kashmir. Failure is a costly option. Sane voices and middle ground must prevail.