Senior BJP leader in Jammu, Jugal Kishore Sharma said in Jammu that a party meeting on Sunday had discussed various issues including the release of separatist leader Masarat Alam and unanimously thought that it was a wrong decision.
“Our senior leaders will convey to them [PDP] that these are not the decisions for which we have aligned with the PDP to form the Government. We have come together for development and not for releasing people like Alam,” he said.
The divergence in vote banks of the BJP and PDP, have widened the cracks between the BJP-PDP in the first week in power. While the PDP needs some bold political moves like the release of Mr. Alam to regain the trust of the people in the Kashmir valley, the BJP has to answer not only to its Hindu vote bank but also its right wing organisations like the VHP and Bajrang Dal.
Sources in the BJP told The Hindu that within the coalition, things are clearer and efforts are being made to contain the damage outside.
“Today they allowed [Praveen] Togadia Ji to speak in Jammu which the Omar Abdullah government didn’t. There is an understanding about how much rope this government can give to those seen as extremists,” a senior BJP leader said. “The only important thing is that they should be able to manage the fallout and the media.”
‘Fixed match’National Conference leader and legislator from Jammu, Devinder Rana, called the ‘controversial decisions’ and the ensuing outcry as a fixed match to divert people’s attention from the important issues.
“It is a fixed match between the BJP and PDP. It is all being done to divert attention from the CMP which is a hollowed out document,” Mr. Rana said. “The script of this match was written before the announcement of government formation and the shouting of the local J&K BJP people and the silence of the BJP in Delhi clearly validate that point.”
He also accused the new government of letting out extremist elements into circulation with the PDP doing the job by releasing people like Mr. Alam in Kashmir and the BJP by allowing an address of VHP leader Praveen Togadia.
