Break 'opportunistic' coalition with BJP: Chidambaram to Mehbooba

Referring to the PDP-BJP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir as the "gravest provocation" to the people in the valley, Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to break the alliance.

"(I) share J&K CM's concern that statesmanship required to get J&K out of the vicious cycle of killings. Sad that she does not see that her coalition government is (at) the core of the problem." 

"Mehbooba Mufti should break her party's unholy and opportunistic coalition with the BJP and go back to the philosophy of her father," said the former Home Minister in a series of tweets.

He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government's "muscular, militaristic approach" to the Kashmir issue has driven the state towards a "catastrophic" situation.

"The PDP-BJP coalition is the gravest provocation to the people of the Kashmir valley. Mehboobaji, quit the coalition immediately and go back to the people," he added.

Chidambaram's comments came a day after Mufti urged the national leadership to get the state out of the "vicious cycle of killings" following the death of a 22-year-old tourist from Chennai, who was hit on his way to Gulmarg, during a heavy stone pelting incident in Srinagar.

She said civil society across the country has a major role to play in finding a solution to the difficulties people in the state are facing.