Azad asks BJP to tread carefully in Kashmir

The Bharatiya Janata Party should not rush to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir and take care of the "sensitivity" of the people of the state, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said Friday.

"It is very sad that there was a fractured mandate in Jammu and Kashmir... What I am concerned about is that BJP is being insensitive as far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned," Azad, a former chief minister of the state, said during an interaction with women journalists at Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC).

"They (BJP leaders) have camped in Srinagar, what is the rush," he asked.

"Areas like Jammu and Kashmir and northeast are sensitive areas. They (the BJP) should not rush with saffronisation of these areas. Should BJP go out of the way to form a government, they will be inviting trouble," he said.

"It is not a Gujarat, Maharashtra, or Bihar. Even local leaders have to think twice before they speak. There are people who are always ready to exploit the situation," he said.

Asked what kind of trouble he was talking about, Azad refused to elaborate.

Azad also cited the example of Indira Gandhi, who made way for Sheikh Abdullah to be Jammu and Kashmir chief minister even though Congress had a majority.

He also said that the Peoples Democratic Party-National Conference-Congress combination would be good for the state as it will give a stable government as well as representation from all parts of the country.