Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti addressing a media in Srinagar. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
Soon after the BJP pulled out of the alliance with the PDP, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said her party will continue to strive for dialogue and reconciliation in the state. “We had always said muscular security policy will not work in Jammu and Kashmir. The state can’t be treated as enemy territory. Reconciliation is the key.”
Terming the alliance as untenable, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Tuesday pulled the plug on the four-year-old alliance with the PDP in the violence-hit state. Follow Live Updates
Saying that the BJP-PDP alliance was not for power but had a bigger motive, the PDP leader said, “I am not shocked. We didn’t do this alliance for power. This alliance had a bigger motive- unilateral ceasefire, PM’s visit to Pakistan, withdrawal of cases against 11,000 youth.”
Addressing a press conference, Mehbooba said the basic tenets of the alliance were confidence-building measures. “We have taken many measures to improve the situation in the state. Got the Centre to announce unilateral ceasefire. We tried to keep Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh united,” she said.
Addressing a press conference, Mehbooba Mufti said the basic tenets of the alliance were confidence-building measures. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
Asserting that the PDP will not go into any other alliance now, Mehbooba said, “I submitted my resignation (as J&K CM) to the Governor and told him that we are not looking to explore any other alliance. It took us many months to form an alliance whose prime focus was reconciliation and dialogue.”
The two parties came together following a hung verdict in 2014. The decision to end the alliance came on the day J&K BJP ministers arrived in New Delhi to meet party president Amit Shah.
Earlier in the day, BJP’s J&K in-charge, Ram Madhav said it has become untenable for the BJP to continue in this government. “After taking stock of the situation in the state, the central government and central party is of the view that we should leave the government,” he said.