Modi-Mufti Tango in J&K

Under the de facto one-man leadership of Narendra Modi, the BJP has set out to conquer virgin territories all over the country. It will achieve the goal on its own preferably; however, it will not mind taking any helping hand, because winning is all that matters. As of now, question mark persists over BJP’s luck with the Delhi electorate even after anointing the rookie Kiran “Crane” Bedi as its mascot. However, the party is close to achieving the near impossible feat of bagging Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir.

It can be quite lonesome in politics if you like to walk unaccompanied and become arrogant enough to think you can dictate terms to potential allies and partners. The whirlwind victories have made the BJP to look at all other parties, not just those in the opposition but partners too, with some disdain. Its tussle with the Akalis in Punjab is a case in point. Long time ally Shiv Sena has faced public humiliation in Maharashtra; the one-year-old ally, TDP is becoming increasingly jittery with BJP’s open arms policy.

Kashmir has so far remained a forbidden fruit for the BJP despite Murli Manohar Joshi hoisting the tri-colour in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk at the end of his ‘Ekta Yatra’ in 1992. During the Kanyakumari to Srinagar Yatra organised and supervised by young Narendra Modi, Joshi used to boast “We have more volunteers than the militants have bullets.” But on the morning of January 26, when he drove to the Clock Tower under heavy security, there was no saffron surge. Just five dozen BJP volunteers were in attendance; and their feeble “Vande Mataram” and “Jai Shri Ram” were drowned by the sound of militants’ gunshots from a distance.

This quick recap is to point out that the much talked about second coming of BJP with Joshi’s Yatra had ended as a damp squib; the party fared no better in the latest electoral battle for the 87-member Assembly, though much water has flown into Dal Lake from the Jhelum River. The spectacular electoral sweep in Jammu (25 seats) has been neutralised by pathetic showing (complete blank) in the Valley. It did receive the largest vote share of 23% and earned the tag of king maker, but it was no consolation.

Twenty three years ago, PV helped Joshi complete his Yatra with a sheepish grin. He got the BJP leader airlifted in an IAF Chetak helicopter “since the party ran out of oxygen after Jammu” to quote a local publication of the day. Now, Mufti Mohammad Saeed and his daughter Mehbooba Mufti are set to do a PV with their People’s Democratic Party (PDP), providing the crutches of their 28 seats to help the BJP sit on the treasury benches. Both sides have reached a formal stage where almost all the issues stand sorted out. The terms of the alliance remain a closely guarded Sudoku, though. The Konaseema-born BJP national secretary Varanasi Ram Madhav, the party’s pointsman for Kashmir, indicates that the new alliance will be in place after Delhi elects its new government on February 7. A shot at the power structure in Kashmir will be a trophy worth cherishing for the BJP in these days of a powerful homily from the American President Barack Obama against religious extremism, and concerns over Parivar’s Ghar Wapsi campaign.

Will the deal with PDP help BJP overcome the handicap of being seen as an anti-minority party? Well, it may, but much would depend on Modi’s ability to rein in the Parivar hotheads, like he did with the likes of Praveen Tagodia in Gujarat during his second term as the Chief Minister of the state.

It will be patently unfair to say that only Modi’s BJP has been bending backwards to tie up with the father-daughter duo. The regional outfit is equally eager to stitch the alliance. In terms of electoral verdict, BJP and PDP have emerged as the natural choice for treasury benches. The Kashmiri people have clearly voted out the previous dispensation of National Conference (NC) and the Congress. The vote is a clear indication that the people wanted an alternative, which could come only from the PDP and BJP.

The Muftis, unlike the Hindutva big brother from Delhi, cannot walk the talk with open arms. They have to go through the motion of consultations, and take on board sections of separatists which are their core constituency. That this exercise has been completed is clear from last week’s Mufti-speak: “If my shaking hands with them (BJP) will benefit the state, I will do that.”

By: Malladi Rama Rao