For the second consecutive day, consultations continued between Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and senior party leaders on the possibilities of government formation in the state.
“We are just regularly updating ourselves. It may take longer time reaching a consensus. PDP is maintaining a wait-and-watch policy. We are not in a hurry nor do we want to be seen in a hurry,” PDP insiders told Rising Kashmir.
One of the options PDP is left with is to ally with Bharatiya Janata Party but joining hands with a rightwing party having a communal tag in the Muslim majority region could result in a backlash. In this respect, some political observers believe that forging a coalition with BJP tantmounts to “political suicide” for regional parties, be it PDP or National Conference. But at the same time, allying with BJP can earn PDP crucial support from Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.
Director, Institute of Kashmir Studies, Kashmir University, Prof Gul Mohammad Wani believes PDP will have to do deeper and wider consultations before taking a step to align with BJP.
“A couple of things are very important which need to be taken into account by political actors. The mandate to form the government has obviously been given to BJP in Jammu and PDP in Kashmir but it is regionally and communally fractured. In this type of situation, mandate needs to be mediated to maintain the regional harmony,” said Wani.
He said while BJP in essence is an ideologically driven party PDP is not only regional but broadly inclusive and secular in its nature and orientation. “The parties will have to mediate the ideological conflict. They will have to sort out issues and form consensus over several contentious issues before going on together,” he added.
Media Advisor of PDP, Nayeema Ahmed Mehjoor said the indecisive mandate has made situation very complicated for the party.
“You have to see people of Jammu have given mandate to BJP and people of Kashmir to PDP. In the political structure of Jammu and Kashmir, no one has been left untouched. BJP is like Congress in the state now,” Mehjoor told Rising Kashmir.
She said PDP core committee will meet in a day or two and decide over the matter.
“At this juncture people also have to tell us what should be the best course of action. We want stable government. We are looking at all the offers since statements in media have come from BJP and Congress. They have opened door for us and our party leadership will decide soon,” Mehjoor said.
When asked about Omar Abdullah’s offer to back PDP, PDP Media Advisor said: “Thank you for it, party leadership will decide soon.”
She said PDP is looking for a kind of governance which is based on the agenda the party presented before the people.
In a press conference on Tuesday, PDP chief and MP, Mehbooba Mufti had said: “It is going to take time to deliberate and explore which such formation would accommodate the aspirations of people.”
“We also have to consider the expectations of people on PDP to take forward the political process.”
The second option on table is PDP-Congress alliance. However, given the low seat tally of Congress, the coalition would fall short of numbers.
If the political observers are to be believed, the two independents of Peoples Conference are likely to support BJP while other two of Udhampur and Zanskar are with National Conference. The rest three —–Engineer Abdul Rashid of Langate constituency, Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen (Khan Sahib) and M.Y. Tarigami (Kulgam) – if they back PDP and Congress they would still be short of the required number of 44.
They can only do this, experts opine, by negotiating at a higher price with the independents.
With ball in its court, PDP weighs options
