BJP-PDP Split: The Storm After the Calm?

Video Editor: Vivek Gupta

In March 2015, when the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) joined hands to form a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, not many believed that the ‘unnatural alliance’ would work. Why? Because, among other things, the PDP saw dialogue with separatists as well as Islamabad as one of the solutions to the Kashmir problem. The BJP, on the other hand, was opposed to any such engagement.

But, despite all the political punditry, the uneasy association of two ideologically disparate powers lasted three years. The PDP, it seems, was caught off-guard; it reportedly didn’t have any inkling of the BJP’s break-up plans.

After all, the statements made by PM Modi and the BJP in the past did not point to any sign of discontent.

Sharing the dais with the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on 7 November 2015, PM Modi invoked Vajpayee’s three-pronged motto of Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat and Insaniyat. The three principles, he said, would be the guiding force of the coalition. He also praised the late CM for continuing Vajpayee’s legacy.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given us the three mantras of Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat and Insaniyat. Even today, I believe that these principles hold the key to the state’s development. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed spoke of empowering panchayats, which is an example of Vajpayee’s mantra.

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Delivering his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort in August 2016, the Prime Minister had a special message for the people of Kashmir. He said the solution to the problem of Kashmir could be found not through bullets or abuses but by embracing its people. This set a new hope for renewed dialogue in the valley.

The alliance even survived the 2017 terror attack on Amarnath pilgrims that left eight people dead. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who rushed to Srinagar after the attack, told ANI that he “would like to salute the people of Kashmir, as they all had condemned the terror attack on pilgrims.” This meant that support had not only poured in from the BJP’s ally in the state, but also from other political quarters.

But the open campaign by two notable J&K BJP ministers in favour of those accused in the Kathua gangrape of a 13-year-old girl was widely thought to have strained relations. But the coalition dodged the crisis and moved ahead. BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav noted that both the parties “had a uniform agenda and were equal and responsible partners in the government”. When asked about differences, he told ANI that they “were working together.”

Yet, on 19 June 2018, the same Ram Madhav presided over a press conference in Delhi, declaring the alliance ‘untenable.’ Those leading the government in Kashmir, he told ANI, had “failed in checking the valley’s deteriorating condition”.

But if things appeared so optimistic just a month back when the Prime Minister inaugurated a clutch of development projects in the valley, why did the BJP pull the plug on Kashmir? Was it a sudden realisation or an electoral gamble? Only the BJP bosses and their advisors can tell.