Mehbooba Mufti, as per the latest reports, has resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party in, a long overdue move, pulled support from the coalition government in the state. This ends the almost 4 year long coalition between BJP and the People’s Democratic Party in the state. An unmatched pairing between two polar opposite sides in the state had damaged the reputation of BJP. Mehbooba Mufti had carried on with her pro-Islamist and separatist appeasement policies during the entire length of the unholy alliance. From attempting to frame her coalition BJP MLAs in the Kathua case to using Kashmir police officials against the Hindu minority population of the state, she left no stone unturned in making Kashmir a comfortable place for the separatists and Jihadi elements. Thousands of stone pelters had been pardoned by her in the approximately 4 year long rule.
These sentiments, it seems, have finally been echoed by the central BJP committee. BJP President Amit Shah had called a meeting of all the BJP ministers from J&K in New Delhi. The meeting was also going to be attended by senior cadres of the BJP. J&K BJP state chief Ravinder Raina and party general secretary Ashok Kaul were also called up to the meeting headed by Amit Shah. The meeting was called just a day after the decision of revoking the ceasefire in Kashmir was made public by Home Affair Minister Rajnath Singh. This welcome decision was quickly followed by the decision of pulling out support from the incumbent government in the state. The decision to pull out from the government was taken in the meeting presided by Amit Shah and was duly conveyed to Mehbooba Mufti led PDP.
It was important for the BJP to withdraw support from this alliance as Mehbooba Mufti and PDP had made their stance quite clear by supporting Rohingya resettlement in the state, that too in the Hindu majority areas of Jammu. This pathetic attempt at disturbing the demographical setup of the Jammu area and of creating friction had been deliberately done by Mehbooba Mufti. Her soft approach towards dealing with the stone pelters and terrorists who hurt Indian citizens and the Indian security forces were even more deplorable. The attacks on the Amarnath Yatra pilgrims and the death of an Indian tourist due to stone pelting were some of the shameful incidents which took place in the valley under Mufti’s rule.
Mufti, through her policies, was eating away at the voter base of BJP from the inside, by hurting the sentiments of the Hindu majority Jammu region. She had also demanded the implementation of a unilateral ceasefire which turned out to be one of the worst decisions taken by the centre in the past many years. The grip of the security forces on the terrorists and separatists loosened in this month long relaxation and they launched attacks on civilians and forces with renewed zeal. Even J&K deputy CM and BJP minister Khagendra Gupta had spoken strongly against the extension of ceasefire. PDP had become dead weight for the BJP and this alliance had begun to rot and smell.
The decision to pull out of the alliance is a welcome move and will help the Central government to inflict heavier damage on the separatists. It is always better to work alone than in coalition with someone who is working towards the opposite goal. This will also further stress upon the fact that BJP is not greedy for holding sway in the states; on the other hand it is ready to sacrifice power and position in its hope of achieving bigger goals in the national interest. The decision is a great step in preparation for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the BJP.