J&K government formation: Both PDP and NC said to be in touch with BJP

SRINAGAR: While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared to relax its campaign line on J&K to make it easier for the two local parties to enter into a coalition with it, both the People's Democratic Party ( PDP) and the National Conference ( NC) seem to be engaged in a war of wits over who gets to form the next government. Both parties are said to be in touch with BJP.

Arun Jaitley, PM Narendra Modi's key adviser on J&K, put forth the BJP's position. "We will go (ahead on the issue of government formation) with three principles based on national and state interest— strengthening of national sovereignty, development and regional balance," he said in Jammu.

"We have the highest popular vote and we will play a crucial role in government formation." Though the party had not used abrogation of Article 370 as a poll issue, it still took up the rehabilitation of Jammu's refugees as a major plank. Refugees, mostly from West Pakistan and settled in Jammu since 1947, are a major contentious issues with Kashmir-based parties. He insisted that the BJP was not in touch with any political party.
However, Jaitley's three principles are being seen as a way of making it easier for NC and PDP to ally with it, since both campaigned aggressively against the BJP's Kashmir agenda. But Jaitley is understood to have met NC's Jammu provincial president Devinder Singh Rana in Delhi earlier.

BJP sources said this meeting revolved around the upkeep of the samadhi of the late Jammu leader Girdhari Lal Dogra, Jaitley's father in law. Rana is one of the custodians of the samadhi. But insiders said the meeting had a political agenda as well.

Sources in the PDP camp suggested there was no visible forward movement. "If there is something happening, it is taking place at (party leader Mufti Sayeed's) level and nobody knows what is happening."

According to reports, Sayeed has conveyed only two things so far—that the possibility of a tie-up with Congress is not the priority and lawmakers should get ready to sit in the opposition.

They denied that NSA Ajit Doval was in touch as reported earlier. But people who know the maverick leader say he may prefer NC to test the BJP waters to understand the level of cooperation a coalition partner may enjoy. One line of speculation is that BJP may seek to lead a coalition with NC, giving it the deputy CM position. Outgoing CM Omar Abdullah refused to have any interaction with reporters. But talk that a deal may be in the offing has started creating ripples within his own party.

A NC leader said though his party leadership might only be using the rumours to force PDP to get into an alliance with the BJP, any actual deal may be difficult to accept. Though state newspapers have prominently published Abdullah’s offer to support a PDP government, the Mufti camp doesn't see this as a serious prospect.