The delay in swearing in of Mehbooba Mufti as CM has led to a guessing game on the fate of the PDP-BJP alliance in J&K. Leader of the Opposition, NC’s Omar Abdullah Shares with TOI’s that Mehbooba can hardly walk away from an alliance she helped to create.
Q: You tweeted recently where is governance in Kashmir. Is the NC seeking to make political capital in a power vacuum?
A: Not at all. The fact is for 48 hours you had in effect a constitutional breakdown.The state government had ceased to exist when Mufti sahab breathed his last. The normal practice is that in under 24 hours a new government is sworn in, when the previous government ceases to exist. This was the case when my grandfather died, it was the case when Indira Gandhi died and there are numerous other precedents along the same lines. Given the unwilingness of Mehbooba to take over, the fact that a crucial state like J&K went headless for more than 48 hours was alarming. It wasn’t an appeal for the NC to be invited into some sort of government, it was actually a wake- up call that in the event of the coalition not staking its claim, the governor needed to do what was right and impose governor’s rule. Governor’s rule was delayed, for 48 hours the chief secretary was ruling the state. You cannot have a state like J&K headless. Of course governor’s rule is the least preferred option and we would like to see an elected government assume office as soon as it can.
Q: You’re not trying to seize the opportunity here? There were reports your father had approached the BJP?
A: Of course not. Normally in a vacuum like this, parties would rush in to take advantage, NC has done the opposite. We have stayed as far away from any manouvering and jostling.
As for my father, he is golfing in Dubai. If there was a possibility of tying up with the BJP it was right after the elections when an approach by the BJP was actually made. We turned it down at that point in time, why would we revisit that now.
We have been elected to the Opposition and that’s a role we will perform. It’s not in my nature to politicise something which is a tragedy for Mehbooba, her party and the state of J&K. Am certainly not picking up the phone and calling people to see how I can play this to my advantage.
Q: Would the BJP not have a greater comfort factor with your party, given you were once in the NDA?
A: I have no interest in satisfying their comfort. The comfort of the BJP is the least of my concerns. As far as I am concerned, it’s the interests of J&K, then the interests of the NC which are important. The BJP don’t even figure.
Q: But why should the BJP be an untouchable? You were a part of the Vajpayee government at the Centre.
A: I have always drawn a distinction between the NDA under Vajpayee and the NDA of today. Our alliance was a working understanding with Vajpayee not an alliance with BJP in the state. Even when we were allies of the BJP at the Centre we fought parliamentary elections against the BJP in the state. We defeated the BJP in the Jammu parliamentary seat and even as a minister in the Vajpayee government I campaigned against the BJP in Jammu.
Q:You called the alliance opportunistic, but isn’t it a welcome marriage of Jammu with Kashmir?
A: Am not saying the alliance is right or wrong. Am just saying the NC’s relationship with the NDA did not translate into an alliance in the state. In this case the PDP and BJP fought elections against each other, when results didn’t work out, they came together. That’s why I called it opportunistic.
Q: Will the PDP-BJP alliance will fall apart now, without Mufti?
A: I believe that path ahead becomes trickier, but I don’t believe Mufti’s absence necessarily means an immediate breakdown of the alliance. Mehbooba was part of this alliance being formed, it was she and her colleagues who went and meet Amit Shah when the alliance was created, she was very much part of swearing in, she was there on stage when oaths taken. Why should we automatically make the assumption that Mehbooba is not in a position to take this alliance forward? Mehbooba was part of the consensus that built the alliance. She’s been equally vocal in her praise of PM Modi as Mufti was.
Q: Why do you think she is not taking oath?
A: From what I have seen she’s clearly grief stricken. People are saying it’s a battle of wills etc but I think its genuine heartfelt grief which others are trying to spin as a tactical chess game. After all if she backs away from this alliance it will suggest that her father was wrong to do what he did. Sonia Gandhi meeting Mehbooba was purely on a personal level. A human gesture is being spun as a political one.
A: You can’t compare a 56 year old or a 45 year old to an 80 year old. Was Mufti a consensus builder when he was Mehbooba’s age? Was my father a consensus builder at my age? We tend to overlook the advantage and wisdom that age and wisdom generates for us. Who is to say that Mehbooba won’t be the great consensus builder a few years down the line? Or that I won’t be?
