Hold J&K polls if no PDP-BJP govt soon: NC

Mehbooba will take final call, says PDP core group

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah called Sunday for the dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and holding of fresh elections if the PDP and BJP were unable to form a government in the state. “If they (PDP and BJP) can’t solve the problems of the people, the Assembly must be dissolved and fresh elections held,” he told reporters in Jammu, the state’s winter capital.

The PDP’s core group, which met in Srinagar on Sunday, has authorised party president Mehbooba Mufti to take a final call on government formation. “Mehboobaji has been assured all support by all party members, and she will take the final call on government formation,” senior party leader Naeem Akhtar said.

Mr Akhtar, however, also said: “We’re working on how to move ahead on the Agenda of Alliance (the common minimum programme reached with the BJP last year).” This is seen as an indication that the PDP stkk remains inclined to forming the new government with the BJP.

Dr Abdullah had said Saturday that his party may consider a tieup with the BJP for government formation if such an offer was received. As this set off a political firestorm in the state, his son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah promptly denied that the National Conference was looking for such an affiliation with the saffron party.

Dr Abdullah, when asked to spell out his party’s stand if it gets a proposal from the BJP for forming a coalition government in the state, now under Governor’s Rule, had told reporters at Katra, near Jammu: “If such a proposal comes, the NC will call a working committee (meeting) and debate over it. If such a situation arises, the NC can think over it as we have not closed the doors. Our doors are open.”

His statement evoked sharp criticism back home and many people took to social networking sites to accuse the NC and its leadership of being “power hungry”. Caught on the backfoot, working president Omar Abdullah went on Twitter to term his father’s statement a “reasonable response”. He tweeted: “He (Farooq Abdullah) hasn’t sought an alliance nor assured any support, only consideration & discussion”. In another tweet, he added: “That’s why I don’t give categorical answers to hypothetical questions or situations. Unnecessary storms in teacups follow.”

Omar Abdullah sought to quality his father’s statement by saying: “All he has said is that if any proposal comes from the BJP it will be discussed by the working committee of the party for a decision.” In yet another tweet, he said: “The audio clip of what my father Dr Farooq Abdullah has said is very clear. Please listen to it before arriving at any conclusions”. He also said: “The Working Committee of the @JKNC_ is capable of deciding what is in the interest of the state & the party. So please resist speculation.”

NC spokesman Junaid Azim Muttu defended the party president, saying: “Dr Farooq Abdullah was talking about a hypothetical situation and he never said @JKNC_ will support the BJP. That’s a wrong inference.” He tweeted: “NC is not power hungry and will not compromise on its stand. We have shunned any prospects of an alliance with the BJP a year ago.” In another tweet, Mr Muttu said: “The PDP is an ally of the BJP and @JKNC_ is not obliged to rescue either the PDP or the BJP from their ensuing internal political stalemate”.

The senior Abdullah himself said he had never said his party was going with the BJP. “I had never said we are going with the BJP, it has to be made clear. I only said that the PDP should form the government with the BJP as they have the mandate. I only said our party can discuss anything in our working committee,” he said.

He also said the NC has only 15 MLAs in the Assembly and it cannot form the government with them. “We can’t take a decision as we don’t have the mandate. We’re only 14-15 people, and 14-15 people can’t form the government. I’m not the one to take the decision; it is the party high command to take the decision,” he said.

He advised the BJP and PDP to iron out their differences and form the government without any delay as it was not good for the border state. “Delay is a bad thing for this state. Delay is a bad thing... it is a border state (that is) going through a difficult stage, they (PDP and BJP) have the mandate and they must sit down and solve the problems of the people, that is why they were elected. If they cannot solve the problems of the people, they must dissolve the Assembly and hold a new election,” he said.

The PDP’s extended core group met on Sunday to discuss a slew of issues, including government formation. The PDP cobbled together a coalition government with the BJP in March 2015 under its patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. But after the CM’s death in New Delhi’s AIIMS on January 7, the PDP is yet to decide whether to form a new government with the BJP or end its alliance with the saffron party and look for alternatives.

With the alliance partners failing to formally intimate governor N.N. Vohra on government formation after the CM’s death, the state came under Governor’s Rule on January 9.

Mr Akhtar told reporters after the marathon five-hour-long core group meeting that “Agenda of the Alliance” was holy scripture for the PDP and many things had happened under the late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed as CM. He also said the meeting reiterated the party’s resolve “to rededicate itself to realising Mufti Sahib’s vision of a politically stable and economically empowered Jammu and Kashmir and authorised party president Ms Mufti to take any decision needed to carry forward his mission and implementing his political and development vision”.