JAMMU: Rebuffing allegations of putting in efforts to return to power in Jammu and Kashmir, state BJP chief Ravinder Raina today said his party's priority was the restoration of law and order and not government formation.
"Our priority is not government formation. We were in power in the state and had it been our priority we would not have walked away from the coalition government," Raina told reporters on the sidelines of a function at party headquarters here.
He said the BJP was concerned about the prevailing law and order situation in the state especially in the valley.
"Our top most priority is restoration of normalcy in the valley and peaceful conclusion of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. People should feel a sense of security which is the priority of every government but unfortunately it was not evident during the previous regime," he said.
The BJP is committed to restoration of peace and normalcy in the state especially in the valley.
"India is the biggest democracy in the world and our desire is that an elected government should be in place instead of the Governor rule. But when an elected government failed (in its responsibility to ensure security of the people), we were forced to impose Governor's rule," he said.
"It was not a happy moment for us as we believe in democracy," he added.
On several PDP legislators venting their anger against the party leadership especially former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, he said, "I do not believe in blame game and also do not believe in splitting parties. We do not want anybody's house split."
Asked whether the BJP would open its doors for the disgruntled PDP MLAs, he said, "We don't have doors. Our house does not even have a roof," he said.
Reacting to the murder of policeman Javaid Ahmad Dar after his abduction in Shopian district of south Kashmir, the BJP leader said Pakistan and its sponsored terrorists were frustrated on seeing youth of the valley joining the armed forces to serve the nation.
"Pakistan is indulging in such brutal acts under frustration. We will respond appropriately to this brutality," he said.
"Pakistan army and the ISI are hatching conspiracies to indulge in selective killing especially of security personnel and our government has taken note of intelligence inputs in this regard and chalked out a counter strategy," he added.
Raina said security personnel hailing from Kashmir were asked to take all precautionary measures while on leave to avoid any loss of human life.