Congress cautions PDP against forming government with BJP

Cautioning the Peoples Democratic Party against forging an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress party on Tuesday hoped that party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed would take a decision that best suits the "current political consensus" that has evolved in the state.

The remarks came a day after PDP came out with the idea of a "grand alliance" with its arch rival National Conference and Congress to form the government, introducing a new element in the power sweepstakes.

"Personally speaking, I will only like to caution Sayeed on the dangers of a miniscule minority here (in Kashmir) who suggest development plank for seeking special favour from the ruling class in Delhi, if PDP decides to forge an alliance with the BJP," State Congress President Saif-ud-din Soz said.

"Sayeed should reject this short–sightedness and ask these elements to see the facts clearly and know for certain that India is a democracy and its institutions have become strong over the decades. There is no largess available to the prime minister of India to offer to those states only which are for the BJP dispensation," he added.

He said such elements in the system should also realise that India is a federation of states.

"How otherwise can the governments in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam, Tripura ... function?" he asked.

Soz said that the PDP as a party must also appreciate the fact that there is a vast secular space in Jammu and it happens to be a large asset and a unifying factor to the J&K state.

"The present situation has yielded a trump card in Sayeed's hand and I feel confident that he will use the opportunity very properly and advantageously," he said.

The state Congress president said he was of the view that the atmosphere in the state is moving to Sayeed's favour and he would adopt a course which will hopefully be characterised as historic by way of the results on ground.

"A vast majority of right thinking people in the national capital now feel that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, known very much for its ideology, has handed very difficult agenda to the present set–up of BJP, the implications of which they (the BJP top brass) have started to realise.

"While the RSS is giving a grudging consideration to the PDP's proposals, Mufti (Sayeed) Sahib is widely perceived to be a person who will not to go wrong on what suits best to the current political consensus that has evolved at a critical stage of his long political career.

"I feel convinced that the PDP patron will, under no circumstances, cripple the goose that will certainly lay the golden egg for him as the chosen leader of the state," he said.