Since time immemorial Jammu has witnessed the assembly of BJP stalwarts on special occasions, leading Ekta Yatras and holding anti-terror rallies. But Sunday witnessed BJP leaders lal Krishan Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi as torch bearers of BJP’s nationalist agenda as they joined party chief Amit Shah and Prime Minister Naredra Modi to witness a historic occasion where BJP for the first time became part of the State Government headed by PDP patron Mufti Mohd Sayeed.
For common BJP workers it was a dream come true as they got voice of their own in the State Government. Over the years their politics revolved around keeping the National flag high while tackling the hegemony of the leadership of Kashmir Valley. For many political pundits who had never visualised the idea of seeing BJP-PDP coming together to form the Government in the State it was a watershed moment.
“For BJP-PDP leaders it is a historic opportunity to bridge the gap between the two regions of the State which had witnessed so much of turmoil in the last 25 years,” Prof Hari Om, a columnist told The Pioneer. Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh when confronted the question whether it was easy for the BJP to dump the issue of abrogation of Article 370 ahead of joining the Government, said, “It was not difficult.
The party has not changed its stand on Article 370.” He said as Mufti Sayeed had already said that since both the parties had different perceptions on different problems in J&K, some time needs to be taken to reconcile them. “Therefore we took a lot of time yet we came up with a very good document. We hope that we will be able to implement it and give the people of J&K a stable and transparent Government,” he said.
Veteran BJP leader lK Advani, while speaking to reporters after the oath-taking ceremony, said, “I don’t subscribe to the view that the BJP has changed its ideology over Article 370.” Referring to the alliance between BJP and PDP Advani said, “It is going in the right direction and is a new experiment. Under NDA Government headed by AB Vajpayee the party has learnt the lessons on how to deal with different political parties with different ideologies.