BJP ends alliance with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti resigns

The two-year-old Mehbooba Mufti-led government in Jammu and Kashmir fell on Tuesday, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled out of its alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and withdrew support to the government.

With the National Conference (NC) and the Congress ruling out efforts to form a government, the state is headed for governor’s rule. Mufti also said her party would not enter into an alliance with any other party to form the government.

The BJP said it favoured governor’s rule, and its ministers have submitted their resignations. If governor’s rule is imposed in the state, it will be the fourth time since 2008 and the eighth time since 1977. In the evening, Governor N N Vohra forwarded his report to President Ram Nath Kovind for imposition of governor's rule in the state. The Congress said the Narendra Modi government had perpetrated a “Himalayan blunder” on Jammu and Kashmir.

The December 2014 Assembly elections in the state had thrown up a hung House. The PDP won 28 seats, the BJP 25, the NC 15 and the Congress 12 seats in the 87-member Assembly. Seven seats were won by smaller parties and independents. Two months after the elections, the PDP and the BJP formed a coalition government. 

The BJP’s decision on Tuesday follows political feuds between the two parties, a spike in violence in the state, an international border that has become increasingly volatile, and general elections in Pakistan scheduled for July 25.

With the Pakistan army focused on holding elections in the country and the Mufti government’s alleged failures to meet security challenges, there is a sense in New Delhi's security establishment that the month of July, with the state under governor’s rule, could be more effectively used to counter the export of terrorism into Kashmir from across the border.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said in New Delhi on Tuesday that his party had withdrawn support to the Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition government. The PDP leadership said they were surprised by the announcement. The BJP had summoned its ministers in the Jammu and Kashmir government to the Capital. A few hours after Madhav’s announcement, Mufti submitted her resignation to Governor N N Vohra.

At a press conference called at short notice in New Delhi, Madhav said it had become “untenable” for the BJP to continue in the coalition government. In Srinagar, Mufti said “muscular security police would not work in the state”. Reconciliation and dialogue were the only paths to peace and resolution, she added.

Madhav said the decision to withdraw support was taken after consulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The BJP chief had also met National Security Adviser Ajit Kumar Doval early afternoon. Madhav cited deteriorating security condition in Kashmir as the main reason for the party’s decision, including the killing of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari and Army jawan Aurangzeb two days before Eid.

"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," Madhav said.

In Srinagar, Mufti countered the allegations and listed her government’s achievements. "We have been able to withdraw 11,000 cases against stone pelters, given an offer of talks with all shades of opinion by none other than Union Home Minister (Rajnath Singh) and brought a unilateral ceasefire," she added.

NC's Omar Abdullah said: "I wish Mehbooba Mufti had resigned herself... instead of having the rug pulled from under her feet." Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the "opportunistic BJP-PDP alliance" set fire in Jammu and Kashmir, killing many innocent civilians and brave soldiers, and the damage would continue even if the state were put under central rule.

Madhav said the Modi government supported the state government, and blamed the failures on Mufti and the PDP. He said the Centre had provided a Rs 800 billion development package to the state and also appointed a former director of the Intelligence Bureau as interlocutor to engage with different sections of society. The law and order situation had deteriorated in Kashmir, and resentment had grown in Jammu and Ladakh over lack of development and “a perceptible sense of discrimination,” he added.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said after the 2014 Assembly election, his party wanted a greater alliance of PDP-NC and the Congress, with the BJP staying away from it. It was at the instance of the Prime Minister that the PDP was forced to enter an alliance with the BJP, he added.

The Centre should have allowed regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir to decide their course, he said.