Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Apr 25: Resentment is brewing in People’s Democratic Party (PDP) over the non-implementation of the Agenda of Alliance (AoA), which was formulated with the coalition partner – BJP before entering into their first ever coalition Government in 2015.
Sources in PDP told EXCELSIOR, “several PDP Ministers and senior party leaders aired their grievances over the fact that not much progress has been made over the implementation of the main agenda of this ‘Governance alliance’ and felt that there was lack of seriousness to work in this direction”.
These views were expressed by the PDP leaders, in the Core Group meeting, which was chaired by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and also attended by all the Ministers (except Works Minister), besides the office bearers. The party meeting had been called by the PDP president at her residence yesterday to apprise the party leaders about her deliberations with the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and the Home Minister, Rajnath Singh.
“All the Ministers and office bearers were of the view point that there has been no headway on the Agenda of Alliance (AoA) since the past two years”, sources said.
The AoA document, while elaborating on the political initiatives to be taken by the coalition says, “Government will facilitate and help to initiate a sustained and meaningful dialogue with all internal stakeholders, which will include all political groups irrespective of their ideological views and predilections”. However, no such announcement has been forthcoming despite the fact that coalition has completed two years in power.
Party sources asserted, “PDP had taken up this issue at different levels with the BJP leadership at State and Centre but there wasn’t any response”.
The other important point, which has been described as “Development Agenda” in the document talks about exploring modalities for transfer of Dulhasti and Uri hydro power projects to J&K as suggested by the Rangarajan Committee Report and the Round Table reports. It was also aimed to secure a share in the profits of NHPC emanating from J&K waters to the State Government.
“No progress has also been achieved on this issue and there is hardly any response from the concerned quarters”, said one of the Ministers, present in the meeting.
“Most of the Ministers felt that credibility of the party has touched new lows in the absence of any progress on the Agenda, which formed the basis of this coalition”, said sources, adding, “most of the party leaders felt that the party has been pushed to the wall and if nothing moves within 2-3 months, the party should take a call on continuance of alliance”.
While referring to previous rounds of talks held by the top hierarchy of country, some of the leaders said, “if former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee could initiate dialogue with stake holders and then Deputy Prime Minister, L K Advani could hold talks, why can’t the process be resumed again”.
Some of the leaders were also critical of the Central leadership of the BJP for not extending whole-hearted support to the coalition Government in the State.
One of the Ministers, who was present in the meeting said, “the holding of the Lok Sabha elections on April 9 was also another setback for the coalition Government. The Election Commission went ahead with the poll process despite stiff opposition from the State Government and even the Union Home Ministry wasn’t in favour of holding elections”.
“The Kashmir valley hasn’t still fully recovered from the 2016 unrest and these polls added more fuel to the fire thereby leading to further deterioration of the situation on ground. Even the proposed polls for Anantnag Parliamentary constituency need to be postponed till the tourist season gets over and should not be held before October”, said the PDP leader.
The PDP president told the party leaders yesterday that BJP was committed to the Agenda of Alliance and Prime Minister had assured her to take steps for implementation of the Agenda. “All efforts would be initiated to create a conducive atmosphere for talks in the State and Centre have assured full support to the alliance”, she informed the party men and her Cabinet colleagues.
The PDP president also held further consultation with the Legislators today at 7.30 pm at her residence in the summer capital.
It is pertinent to point out here that Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti had 20 minutes meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi yesterday followed by another 30-minutes meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh at North Block in which BJP general secretary, In charge Jammu and Kashmir Affairs Ram Madhav was also present.
During the meeting, Chief Minister is understood to have assured the Prime Minister and the Home Minister that all possible measures were being taken by her Government with support of the Centre to restore peace and normalcy in the troubled Valley and that she expects good results in next two to three months.
She also raised the Indus Water Treaty issue with the Prime Minister saying it was causing a huge loss of Rs 20,000 crore to the State and it should be compensated for the losses.
Party leaders said the meeting was held to review ground situation in the State especially the Kashmir Valley in which Mehbooba gave feedback to the party leaders about her meetings with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
The Chief Minister directed the party legislators to start mass contact programme and reach out to the people especially the youth to dissuade them from the violence.
“The youth are disillusioned but they are our own. We need to talk to them, listen them and address their grievances,” Mehbooba said in the meeting.
She informed the party leaders that the Centre was not averse to talks at the Government level but for that “we have to create the atmosphere of peace and trust. We need to set the house in order to pave the way for dialogue”.
She informed the legislators that the Central Government was ready for any kind of help the State required in restoration of peace and normalcy in the Valley.
Referring to formation of the Government with the BJP, Mehbooba is reported to have said that it was unanimous decision taken by all senior party leaders including the legislators.
“It was your (legislators) unanimous decision to form Government with the BJP and I respected it. I am here because you all wanted me to be. The situation has been hostile but we have, despite all odds,worked hard on governance front,” Mehbooba said turning emotional.
The party legislators spoke at length about the situation on ground. They urged for accountability in the administration.
Some of the legislators reportedly claimed that administration including police was working hard to normalize the situation but there was lack of coordination between the party and Government.
The legislators unanimously voiced support to continue alliance with BJP but at the same time, they voiced concern over the “irresponsible rhetoric” from Alliance camp
They urged the Chief Minister, who also happens to be the party president, to make it sure that BJP leaders don’t resort to irresponsible statements and actions as it has direct impact on the Valley situation. The incident in Reasi was strongly condemned and the Government was urged to ensure exemplary action against the accused.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel