Resignations of BJP ministers in J-K to save Mufti govt: Tariq Karra

Former MP Tariq Hameed Karra today played down resignations of two BJP ministers in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was aimed at saving Mehbooba Mufti-led government in the state.

Forest minister Choudhary Lal Singh and Industries minister Chander Prakash Ganga, who courted controversy by attending a rally supporting the accused in the Kathua rape and murder case, submitted their resignation to the party on April 13.

Mufti today accepted their resignations.

"Both the PDP and BJP are trying to play smart by the way of fixing the match through rhetoric and pre-emptive measures like withdrawing the ministers from cabinet simply to save this government and remain glued to the power," Karra, one of the founding members of the PDP, said in a statement here.

Karra resigned from the PDP in September 2016 over differences with the party leadership over its alliance with the BJP and later joined Congress in February last year.

He said the people of the state were going through "one of the worst political crisis in last 25 years".

"The state government on the other hand is unmoved, unnerved and unperturbed," he claimed.

Karra said the "blunder" the PDP did by facilitating RSS backed BJPs' elevation to power was "beyond repair".

"Previously socially untouchable communal fringe elements are now brazenly taking out rallies supporting raping, killing and, evacuation of Muslims," he said.

Warning about the dangers of incidents like Kathua rape and murder, he said resignation by some ministers would alone not solve the problem.

"Savage incidents like these are only the effects, the cause (right-wing ideology) is still there in power. Even if the PDP withdraws support now, it is hardly going to make any difference. These toxic communal elements have been emboldened and empowered enough during these years," he said.

"Justice for the minor is not an end, it should rather be a beginning to wipe out the very roots of this criminal and barbarous ideology from our soil," he added.

Speaking about Tourism Minister Tassaduq Mufti's comment that both the PDP and BJP were partners in crime, Karra said the 'partnership in crime' had started from the very day the PDP got into "this unethical and unacceptable alliance".

Karra also expressed anguish about the civilian killings in recent encounters in the Valley