Recalls alliance during Vajpayee-led NDA government
Differences seem to have surfaced in the BJP over forming a government with the PDP. A faction in the BJP is opposing an alliance with the PDP after the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
BJP sources said a group had suggested the idea of exploring possibilities of an alliance with the National Conference (NC) as it was a part of the previous NDA regime headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
This group argued that NC leaders were mature enough and it would be in the interest of the party to go in for a new alliance in the state.
NC president Farooq Abdullah turning proactive during the last one week was an indication that something was cooking between the two erstwhile coalition partners.
The sources said this faction had intensified its campaign after a recent statement by Farooq Abdullah, which he had later denied.
On January 16, Farooq Abdullah said, “If a proposal comes from the BJP to form a government, the NC will call a working committee meeting and debate over it. If such a situation arises, the NC can think over it as it has not closed its doors.”
He denied the statement the very next day, but it fuelled speculation that a group within the BJP was exploring new possibilities.
Ramesh Arora, then BJP spokesperson and Kashmir in charge, said on December 23, 2014, that the NC was not untouchable for the saffron party. Arora had then stated that the BJP could forge an alliance with the NC in the interests of the state.
Efforts to form an alliance with the NC after the Assembly elections could not materialise due to some unavoidable circumstances at that time, but a BJP faction had now intensified the campaign to change its alliance partner.
Officially, PDP leaders had not set any fresh conditions for forming a government with the BJP, but a group within the saffron party argued that succumbing before its partner would send a wrong signal. Taking a cue from reports in a section of media, this group argued that any hasty decision on returning power projects and vacating land with security forces would prove disastrous for the party in days to come.
