Cong-BJP bridge across Amarnath divide

It was national consensus that won the day in Jammu and Kashmir.

It was national consensus that won the day in Jammu and Kashmir. Even as the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti SASS claimed that the agitation reflected the aspirations of Jammu 8212; 8220;Jammu psyche8221;, as BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley described it 8212; the stir, and an equally belligerent counter-reaction in the Valley, threatened to rupture the delicate fabric holding Jammu and Kashmir together.

It was a belated realisation that the hardening of positions didn8217;t augur well either for the state or the country that the BJP responded positively once the Congress reached out to its top brass. When Congress president Sonia Gandhi called BJP chief Rajnath Singh last month, Amarnath figured in their five-minute conversation. A Congress spokesperson said Sonia wanted the BJP to help the Government defuse the situation. Rajnath said he wanted the Government to take 8220;concrete measures8221; before his party could do something. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited BJP leader L K Advani to discuss Amarnath land row.

The argument that the state Government couldn8217;t go against two high court orders allowing the diversion of the forestland to the 8220;user8221; during the Amarnath yatra and a law passed by the state Assembly formed the main argument of Advani8217;s letter to the PM.

The PM replied positively. 8220;He could have said, 8216;I have received your letter8217;. But he chose to write a detailed letter, broadly agreeing with Advani8217;s thesis,8221; said a BJP leader.

Even as Advani talked to Punjab CM to get roadblocks cleared in his state that threatened to cut off J038;K from the rest of the country, it was clear that the SASS stir was being stage-managed by the RSS. While leaders like SASS convener Leela Karan Sharma were known to have an excellent rapport with RSS8217;s Indresh 8212; whose idea of Jammu and Kashmir8217;s trifurcation was shot down by the BJP 8212; others like Ajay Jamwal 8212; a key J038;K BJP functionary 8212; were in close contact with Jaitley. In fact, a week after the Jammu agitation started, the BJP got a survey done that showed that it would make handsome gains in the 20 Hindu-dominated seats in the region.

With Pranab Mukherjee coming into the picture, the UPA developed a better understanding of the situation.

The desire of a section of the BJP to milk Amarnath for electoral benefits in other parts of the country ebbed due to two reasons: the Congress agreed with the BJP8217;s argument that the two high court orders should be honoured, and secondly, lakhs took to the streets on an anti-India platform in the Valley.

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Pranab kept channels alive with the BJP as he kept Jaitley and Jaswant Singh in the loop. The key, however, was the PM8217;s letter to Advani that made it clear that a solution to the long-standing problem was in sight.

The Union Government was also trying to get Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on board after the Congress and the National Conference had given their go-ahead to the peace formula. That was, however, not to be.

The entire episode was not without its pluses, though. While Jaitley8217;s role in the all-party meeting came in for appreciation from Government quarters, Ghulam Nabi Azad earned praise in the BJP. Omar Abdullah may have become Jammu8217;s pet hate after his Lok Sabha speech, but Farooq Abdullah stood out for his statesmanship. 8220;Farooq has helped the country neutralise Pak-fomented trouble in the Valley,8221; a BJP leader said.