Former political adviser to state BJP president Prof Hari Om today termed as unfortunate the decision of the BJP to continue alliance with the pro-self-rule and Valley-centric Peoples Democratic Party.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah to ensure that Jammu also led the state for at least three years and obtained an equal share in the Council of Ministers and the state Cabinet.
“The BJP-plus and the PDP have the equal number of legislators in the Legislative Assembly. The people of Jammu had voted for the BJP in large numbers hoping that if the party comes to power, it will redress their grievances and compensate for the political and economic losses they have suffered at the hands of Kashmiri leaders,” said Prof Hari Om, adding that the ‘Agenda of Alliance’ on the basis of which the PDP-BJP coalition government was formed in March last year was unjustifiable as it had rendered the people of the region unreal and ineffective for all practical purposes.
“It is unfortunate that the BJP refused to appreciate the Jammu mandate and surrendered everything to Kashmir much to the chagrin of its core constituency,” he said.
It is an appropriate time for the BJP to rectify its past mistakes and ensure that Jammu gets what it legitimately deserves in the state’s political and economic processes, he further said.