The stalemate over alliances between political parties to form the next government in Jammu and Kashmir continued on Friday, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made the first important move by calling on several stakeholders, including leaders of the single largest party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
BJP national general secretary and RSS ideologue Ram Madhav, who arrived in the Kashmir Valley on Thursday, met senior PDP leader and Member of Parliament Muzaffar Hussain Baig at his residence in Srinagar. According to sources, the two met again at the hotel where Mr. Madhav is staying.
According to BJP sources, Mr. Madhav also met Nizamuddin Bhat, another senior PDP leader and defeated candidate from Bandipore. He, however, denied having spoken to Mr. Madhav in any official capacity, adding that they were old friends since their days in journalism.
While PDP sources said Mr. Baig, who seems keen on an alliance with the BJP, was talking in his personal capacity without the party’s approval, Mr. Madhav said people cannot discuss government formation without the mandate from their leaders. Sources in the PDP said the party was still discussing the ramifications of an alliance with the BJP. “It is a historic decision for the State, especially for Kashmir, and it is fraught with grave dangers,” a senior PDP leader told The Hindu . “To form a government with the BJP is to go to the gallows hoping that we will survive.”
Mr. Madhav said the common ground between the BJP and the PDP — which are poles apart in their ideological positions — was the development of the State. Talks between the parties had just begun and the discussion had not yet reached specifics like who will be the Chief Minister in the new government.
