'BJP, PDP not on same page': JD (U) on Kashmir unrest

Taking a strong exception to Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh's remark that killing of Burhan Wani was an 'accident', the Janata Dal (United) on Monday said such statements reflected that BJP and PDP were not on the same page.

"What Nirmal Singh and Mehbooba Mufti are both saying separately and each in a more confused manner than the other, actually reflects the state of BJP-PDP alliance. They are not on the same page. They are pulling in different directions, their priorities are different, their outlook is different. The biggest sufferer in this is the governance in a sensitive border state like Jammu and Kashmir," JD (U) leader Pawan Verma told ANI.

After Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti stated that security forces were unaware about Burhan Wani's identity during the encounter in which he was neutralised, Nirmal Singh on Saturday said that it was an "accident".

When asked about Wani's killing and the recent remarks made by certain leaders about it, Singh said the security forces had no prior information and the identification of bodies was done after the terrorists were killed.

"Burhan Wani was a terrorist, a self-proclaimed, self-avowed terrorist. We do not need apologies about his elimination either fromt he BJP or from the PDP. There must be some limit to political opportunism," Verma told ANI.

However, Singh later retracted from his remark and said he never called it an accident.

"I never said that. I was asked a question by a correspondent if the state government had failed after Burhan Wani's killing, and I was only explaining that because it was a routine anti-terrorist operation, had security forces known, they would have taken better precautions" Singh told ANI here.