PDP starts to see ‘virtue’ in alliance with BJP

Sources said the MLAs were divided on the question of an alliance with the BJP and added that a final decision would be taken after intra-party consultations are over. “I don’t think a decision would be taken before the second week of new year,” said a leader.

Senior leader and PDP spokesman Nayeem Akhtar said there hasn’t been a formal contact between the BJP and his party yet. “We have still kept all options open. We respect the offer of support extended to us by other parties,’’ he said.

However, despite its official position, the PDP seems to be preparing ground for the alliance. PDP leaders initially opposed to joining hands with the BJP have started privately discussing the “virtues” of this pact.

“We know a government cannot be run when entire Jammu, especially its Hindu population that voted for BJP, is not represented in the ruling dispensation. We know our positions (PDP and BJP) on all important political issues are irreconcilable. But, we have to accept BJP as a major political force in the state.”

He added: “They are powerful also because they run the central government. So the only way to prevent them from implementing their dangerous agenda is to join them and restrain their actions”. He said Mufti could help moderate the BJP’s agenda across India. “That way we could serve the interests of Indian Muslims and not just Kashmir,’’ he said.

The PDP leader added that they have put all contentious issues on table and want the BJP’s commitment that those issues won’t be touched. “For example, we want BJP leadership to agree to shelve their agenda on article 370 and other plans that instil fear of demographic change among the state’s Muslims,” he added.

However, a section within PDP insists that even if the BJP agrees to abandon its core Kashmir agenda, it won’t agree to accept it publicly. “I know our leadership is warming up to the BJP. Otherwise, why wouldn’t Mufti sahib go ahead and form a government. Apart from his own 28 legislators, Congress’s 12 and NC’s 15 have already extended him support,” a leader said. “Even if BJP agrees to put its Kashmir agenda like abrogation of article 370 in cold storage, they would do so in such ambiguous language that it won’t mean anything on ground.
Besides, it is RSS that was running the BJP poll campaign across J&K and they wouldn’t compromise. BJP may let Mufti to be chief minister but they would do everything to further their agenda. Their aim is to get 35 seats in the next election,” he added.

When asked about BJP’s reaction, the PDP leader said: “It seems they don’t have such a big problem in accepting our demands. Though the demand of a Hindu CM is strong in Jammu, BJP national leadership isn’t rigid about it. They will be fine with Mufti sahib”. Over the last few days, language of most PDP leaders has changed as the party tries to build a public defence to go with BJP.

“In 2002, Mufti sahib negotiated an alliance with Congress under similar circumstances. Congress too was an untouchable party in Kashmir for a long time. If BJP agrees to our demands, we hope we will be able to sell it to our support base,” said a leader.

The party’s public relations machinery is all out to generate a new idiom to package this “difficult and unexpected marriage between two parties that are poles apart in every sense”. The PDP leaders are talking about the pact’s inevitability if they have to run a government and secure generous financial assistance for development. “We didn’t get a clear mandate and we have responsibility as the largest party. We don’t have an option to stay in opposition,’’ a leader said.

Meanwhile, the party seems to have given a could shoulder to both Congress and NC. Though the PDP-NC alliance has emerged as the most popular proposition on the streets of Kashmir, PDP leaders privately say such an a move will be “politically suicidal”. “Our politics is entirely based on an anti-National Conference sentiment.

If we go with them after defeating them in the polls, what will we sell to our constituency next time,’’ a leader said. A PDP leader said that “a well wisher of Kashmir had sent a message for Mufti sahib saying that he should act as a leader of Indian Muslims and not like a Kashmiri separatist”.