A week after the former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeeds sudden demise, his daughter and the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti is yet to make up her mind on taking over as J&Ks new Chief Minister. The state is now formally under Governors N N Vohras rule. Vohra has already cleared cases pending in the late CMs office. He has also made some transfers in the police. Though initially the delay in Mehboobas take over seemed to be the result of her deep mourning, the continuing stalemate over the government formation has given rise to speculations about the future of the coalition.
Mehbooba, it has been learnt, is sore over the lack of respect shown towards her dying father by BJP. For one, Prime Minister Narendra Modi didnt visit Mufti while he was admitted at AIIMS. Contrary to this, Sonia Gandhi visited twice, first going to AIIMS and then visiting Mehbooba in Srinagar to condole the demise. However, while the future of PDP-BJP coalition is unlikely to be dictated by a less than courteous behaviour of the top BJP leadership during former CMs illness and the death, Mehbooba has certainly an opportunity to rethink the alliance, or reset its terms.
By refusing to rush into a swearing-in ceremony immediately after her fathers demise, Mehbooba has only enhanced her political stature. She has also sent right signals across to her core constituency in Kashmir: she has showed that she wasnt after power , while also letting be known that she wasnt comfortable with the alliance. If we go by the performance of the coalition over the past ten months, there is little redeeming difference in governance that it can boast of. On the contrary, the political and ideological confrontation between the partners has hurtled to the centre stage, almost hobbling the government, Mufti himself looked out of place – tame, passive and as his founding colleague in the party Muzaffar Hussain Beigh described it, “caged”. During his last days in power, he looked withdrawn, haggard and not in command. His initial bid to stake out a larger role for himself by calling for an India-Pakistan reconciliation was rebuffed by BJP.
If anything, the alliance hasnt been win-win, as it was billed to be. PDP has been the loser in Valley with people blaming it for bringing RSS to the state. Undermining PDP position further is the coordinated legal attack at the special constitutional status enjoyed by J&K. So, here is a rare opportunity. Mehbooba can call off the alliance and either form a government with Congress with the support of some independents, or let the Governors rule continue for six months after which fresh elections could be held. Mehbooba can also use her unwillingness to take the oath to drive a harder bargain with BJP. As past ten months have shown, BJP has used every opportunity to subvert the states special position in Indian Union. The petition against the state flag by a local BJP leader is the latest example. This has made a majority of the population in the state angry and blame PDP for enabling it through its alliance with BJP. Mehbooba can stop this, if she so wishes. Time is on her side. After the crushing defeat in Bihar, BJP is no longer the invincible party it was.
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