Modi: 'things were difficult after Mufti Syeed's demise'

PDP has not reacted to Modi's assessment. Mehbooba Mufti picked up some other parts of the Modi interview -on mob lynching -to send out a couple of tweets but she didn't touch upon the Kashmir part of conversation.

JAMMU: In his first ever reaction on collapse of Peoples Democratic Party-Bhartiya Janta Party ruling alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the process of fulfilling expectations of people had become difficult after demise of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who by his own admission had made a difficult decision of aligning his PDP with the BJP, had passed away on 7 January 2016, after spending eleven months as Chief Minister. Upon his demise, it took his daughter and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti three months to restore the coalition government with BJP. Mehbooba took over as Chief Minister on 4 April 2016 and had to resign on 19 June 2018 after BJP suddenly pulled out of her government.

Speaking on the fall of PDP-BJP government for the first time ever, Prime Minister Modi has hinted that the coalition government wasn't able to serve 'people's interests'. Modi's reasoning of people's interest is in stark variance with the 'national interest' as earlier offered by BJP chief Amit Shah and general secretary Ram Madhav as reasons for the pullout.

Since 19 June, Amit Shah and Ram Madhav have spoken in detail about the reasons for pulling down the Mehbooba government. On the day of pullout, Ram Madhav had described the allegedly deteriorating law and order situation in Kashmir as reason even as he also mentioned the alleged discrimination against Jammu and Ladakhi. Four days later, while in Jammu on 23 June, Amit Shah described the alleged discrimination against Jammu and Ladakh as main reasons though he also mentioned about the falling security situation.

In an interview to a news agency, released on Sunday, Modi said, "the people's mandate during the State Assembly elections was towards formation of Government jointly by BJP and PDP. Also, in that situation, there was no other alternative. That is why, to fulfil the people's expectations, we formed the Coalition Government. However, after the sad demise of Mufti Sahab, there were hurdles in fulfilling those expectations".

For BJP, Modi further said, "people's interest is above political interests and that is why without casting any aspersions, we opted out of power. BJP is always with the people of J&K and is ready to fulfil their dreams. This importantly includes deepening the roots of Democracy in the State right down to the Panchayat and Village level. We made efforts to strengthen local self-government at the village level but in that coalition Government it was becoming increasingly tough to do so. Central Government is committed to holistic development of Jammu and Kashmir across the regions of Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir Valley".

The Peoples Democratic Party has not reacted to the Prime Minister's statement. Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti picked up some other parts of the Modi interview -on mob lynching -to send out a couple of tweets but she didn't touch upon the Kashmir part of conversation.

On another question of interest in Jammu and Kashmir, Modi said India hopes of Pakistan to contribute for peaceful and stable region. The interviewing scribe asked a range of questions on Imran Khan's victory, the future of India-Pakistan relations and the future SAARC but the Prime Minister evaded direct response. Modi said, "I have always said that we wish to have good neighbourly relations. We have also taken various initiatives in this regard. I recently congratulated Mr. Imran Khan on his victory in the elections. We hope that Pakistan would work for a safe, secure, stable and prosperous region, free from terror and violence".

Modi's statement, particularly about his assessment of relations between the two parties after demise of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed assumes significance in wake of fresh talk about formation of government in Jammu and Kashmir.

After his recent two-day visit to Srinagar, the BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said with confidence that his party will be part of the any next government in the state. "I say with confidence that whenever the government is again formed in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP will be a part of it," Ram Madhav said, adding that the "jinx is broken". At an event in New Delhi, Mr Madhav said when the BJP comes back to power, it would work towards taking Jammu and Kashmir to a new direction.

Talking about the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government that collapsed in June, Ram Madhav said there were difficulties, but despite that, some things were achieved. "We wanted to do a lot. But when we thought that things are not going according to us, we came out (of the government)," he said.

He said separatism since the last 70 years and terrorism since the last 30 years had hampered progress in the state. Ram Madhav said the BJP's four-pronged approach to tackle the security situation in the state would continue despite the party not being in power in Jammu and Kashmir.