J&K Deputy CM Admits All Is Not Well In Coalition

NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader and the state's deputy chief minister, Dr Nirmal Singh, Monday admitted that all is not well within the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Problems do arise as we have our own agenda and our ruling partner (PDP) has a different agenda. The day our party feels that it has become difficult to continue, we will not stay in power for one second," Dr Singh said.

He was speaking at the state headquarters in Jammu's Trikuta Nagar where, for the first time by virtue of being in power in J&K, a statue of the controversial Jana Sangh founder president, Shyama Prasad Mokherjee, was unveiled on his birth anniversary.

Mokherjee was arrested and died in detention on June 23, 1953 for violating Article 370, which disallowed him and others from India to enter Jammu and Kashmir without the permit of the state government.

At the function, the state's BJP president, Jugal Kishore Sharma, said the dream of Mokherjee, is "incomplete" and the party will fight to fully integrate the state, which enjoys a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, with the rest of the country.

"The sacrifice of Mokherjee got rid of permit system in Jammu and Kashmir but his dream is still incomplete and each one of us has to work towards achieving it," he told a gathering of senior BJP leaders including the deputy chief minister, BJP's cabinet ministers in the state and other senior leaders.

"It is a day to remember martyrs of Hiranagar, Ramban, Chhamb and Sunderbani. J&K is an integral part of India. No force will be allowed to create any hurdle in its ties with rest of the country and there will be no compromise on national interests in the state," Kishore said, hinting at the separatist leaders who have been met with an iron hand by the coalition government.

In New Delhi, the RSS leader and BJP general secretary, Ram Madhav, said the party will not compromise on the ideology of Mokherjee, “Many a times doubts are being raised on whether we (BJP-PDP coalition) are functioning according to the ideology of Syama Prasad Mookerjee."

“I want to assure all those who have doubts that we are working on his principles and will not compromise with the integrity of the state. We stand against insurgents and separatist forces,” Madhav said.

The government formed in March this year had promised to initiate a slew of measures listed in an ambitious alliance agenda that has got lost in translation due to ideological difference between the two parties.

The coalition has reneged on almost every promise made in the agenda which included wresting back power projects from NHPC, review of AFSPA, talks with separatist leader, among other measures promised in the alliance agenda for bringing political stability to the state.