BJP-PDP announce coordination panel

Oppn walkout in LS over Mufti's remarks on polls; PDP legislators ask for return of Afzal Guru's remains

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have formed a coordination committee aimed to help their coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir to follow their ‘common minimum programme (CMP)’.

The CMP was announced in Srinagar after a 25-member council of ministers led by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was sworn in on Sunday. Both will have four members each in the coordination committee. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti will head her party in the panel; Jugal Kishore Sharma will lead the BJP members.

The BJP on Monday said it did not associate with Sayeed’s remarks at his post-oath taking press conference. The new chief minister had credited Pakistan, the hardline Hurriyat and even militants for having contributed to the smooth conduct of elections in the state.

In Delhi, opposition parties raised the issue in the two Houses of Parliament. In the Lok Sabha, they criticised the. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government and BJP dissociated themselves from the comments. Nearly the entire opposition walked out, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement and the House pass a resolution against the CM’s remarks.

In Srinagar, Mehbooba said the CM’s remarks in no way discredited the people of J&K. In Delhi, BJP strategists said the party had not compromised on its ideological positions like the Constitutional status of J&K by aligning with the PDP.

“It’s a meeting of the North and South Poles. No coalition is easy. The CMP will be the guiding principle of the government,” a BJP source said.

Adding that the very first line of the CMP says the “perception” of the two parties was different on Article 370 (the Constitutional status). The BJP leader didn’t rule out the PDP joining the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre in the months to come.

In another potential point of tension within the coalition, eight MLAs of the PDP demanded on Monday that the NDA government return the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. He was hanged in February 2013 and his remains were not handed over to his family.