The Bharatiya Janata Party has pulled out of the BJP-PDP alliance after it’s almost four years long rule in Jammu and Kashmir. The Chief Minister of the state Mehbooba Mufti has resigned from the post following the BJP’s decision to break the untenable alliance. At a press conference in New Delhi, BJP Vice President and General Secretary Ram Madhav said, “It has become untenable for the BJP to continue with the alliance government in Jammu and Kashmir.” BJP is the second largest party in the state with 25 seats of the total 87. The PDP is the largest party with 28 seats but far away from the majority of 44 seats. Therefore it was impossible for PDP to run the government with almost half of the seats of what is required for the majority.
The unlikely alliance between BJP and PDP sailed for almost four years because there was a fractured mandate in 2014 Assembly Election. On the question of what lies ahead after the resignation of Mufti, Ram Madhav said the BJP Ministers would resign from the Cabinet, and the legislators would convey the decision to the Governor soon. “Keeping in mind that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and in order to control the prevailing situation in the State, we have decided that the reins of power in the state be handed over to the Governor.” We are most likely to have governor’s rule for half a year, and if everything remains normal the state may go to polls along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, where elections will be held by end of this year. The states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh are BJP strongholds, therefore, the party gets an upper hand if J&K goes into polls with these states, while being under governor’s rule for the duration till the elections.
For the next 6 months of governor’s rule, the army will have an absolutely free hand in dealing with insurgency in the state. The army witnessed tremendous losses in recent years under the Mufti government. Now that the armed forces will get a free hand, we will see a terrorist bloodbath in the valley. The death of every soldier, every civilian by hands of terrorists operating in the valley will be avenged. So, before the assembly elections, we can expect J&K to be cleaned up like never before. The next six months are going to be the toughest time because never before has the BJP been in the central government during governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir. Despite a CM like Mehbooba Mufti who pandered to Islamists, the BJP still managed to clean up terrorism to a large extent. Now it will be done without Mehbooba Mufti‘s constant interference, whose party has a soft corner for terrorists like Burhan Wani.
The cleanup of Kashmir will be one of the successes that PM Modi will showcase in the run-up to the general election of 2019. The timing to pull out of the alliance seems strategic, and they have just enough time in hand to get the cleanup done. The alliance between BJP and PDP was the coming together of two parties which are polar opposites on the political spectrum. The PDP operates on the ideology of self-rule, as distinctly different from the issues of autonomy. It believes that self-rule as a political phil osophy, as opposed to autonomy, ensures the empowerment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. While on the other hand, BJP is an ardent nationalist party which considers J&K as an integral part of Indian and wants Article 370 to be removed from the Constitution because it gives some autonomy to the state. The alliance sailed through longer than expected but it was no longer feasible to operate with the PDP, with the party being a hindrance to any efforts to maintain law and order in the state. Now that governor’s rule is expected in the state for atleast 6 months, we can expect a major clean up act and the restoration of normalcy in everyday life in the Valley.
