BJP ministers exit J&K govt; Mehbooba asks New Delhi to wake up to Kashmir cauldron

Two controversial BJP ministers, who participated in a rally in support of the people arrested for the rape-cum-murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in Kathua, today exited from the PDP-BJP alliance government in Jammu and Kashmir, ending a simmering political crisis in the state.

A much-relieved Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for defusing the situation and said the unfortunate incident had brought the people of the state and the rest of the country "together".

She said a sense of justice had been reinforced in the state and urged "New Delhi to wake up to the Kashmir cauldron".

Both the alliance partners -- the BJP and the PDP -- had separate legislature party meetings in Srinagar and Jammu to discuss the situation arising out of the polarisation in the state over the rape-cum-murder of the girl after some leaders of the lesser-known Hindu Ekta Manch were arrested in connection with the case.

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, who flew in to Jammu this morning, had a meeting with party leaders as well as legislators after which a decision to hand over the resignations of ministers Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga to the chief minister was taken.

Both Ganga and Singh had participated in the rally on March 1 after the Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police had arrested the nephew of a caretaker of a 'devisathan' (temple) in connection with the kidnapping and rape of the little girl.

Later, during investigation, the police arrested the caretaker and alleged that he was the mastermind of kidnapping, rape and killing of the girl from a nomadic tribe with an ulterior motive of terrifying the community and drive them out of the village.

The BJP sent the resignations to the chief minister who in turn will pass it on to Governor N N Vohra for acceptance, PDP leaders said.

Madhav, who has been the BJP's pointsman on scripting the agenda with the PDP, told reporters in Jammu that the resignations of the two ministers would be handed over to Mehbooba Mufti for further action and also admitted that the two ministers had displayed a lack of discretion by taking part in the rally.

However, he made it clear that there was no attempt to sabotage the investigations as charged by the Congress party.

"The charge that the two ministers were pro-rapist is absolutely wrong. It was sheer indiscretion on their part," he said.

He rejected reports that there was any pressure from his alliance partner PDP for withdrawal of the two ministers. "No pressure, no ultimatum. This is all your figment of imagination," Madhav said in his reply to a query from a reporter that the PDP had threatened to walk out of the alliance if the two ministers did not resign.

Asked whether a dent has been created in the alliance after the Kathua case, Madhav said, "As far as this case is concerned, we have done our bit by allaying the fears and misconception created in the minds of not only the people of Jammu and Kashmir but also in the entire country by asking our two ministers to resign. Beyond that, I don't think there will be any impact of this incident or these developments on the coalition."
To a question that the two ministers had participated in the rally in support of the accused in the rape case where the national tricolour was being waved, Madhav said, "That is why they had to resign. During my visit last month here, I made it clear to everyone that in this matter no one speaks and let us allow the investigations to complete."