NEW DELHI: The Opposition parties were united in condemning the “opportunistic alliance” of BJP and PDP, which, they asserted, destroyed peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said the coalition cost the country strategically and reversed the peace process taken forward by the erstwhile UPA government. “The opportunistic BJP-PDP alliance set fire to J&K, killing many innocent people including our brave soldiers. ... The damage will continue under
President’s rule. Incompetence, arrogance & hatred always fails,” he tweeted.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said he had cautioned PM Narendra Modi three years ago that the PDP-BJP alliance was a ‘Himalayan blunder”. The party ruled out joining hands with PDP, saying it was equally responsible for plunging the state into a crisis.
Instability due to the BJP’s pullout of the coalition government was flagged by CPI-M. “It signifies the total political failure of the BJP’s approach in J&K,” the party said.
According to the Left party, the PDP-BJP never saw eye to eye on any issue but came together in an act of sheer opportunism to share the spoils of office. “BJP was party to all decisions of the state government during the past 3 years and cannot absolve itself of responsibility for further deterioration in J&K and towards deepening the alienation of the people.”
Another Left party CPI insisted that it was a shame for BJP to say terrorism, violence and radicalisation have increased in Kashmir. “The party firmly believes that if anybody is responsible for the present situation, it is only BJP which all through attempted to make political advantage of the situation...”
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP insisted it had been saying from the start that the BJP-PDP coalition would not be able to address the problems of J&K. “The opposite sides together disrupted the peace process and vitiated the atmosphere further,” NCP leader DP Tripathi said.
RJD leader Manoj Jha was all fire against BJP, tweeting that the pullout was a Standard Operating Procedure” of the “right-wing authoritarian outfit”.