Jammu and Kashmir will never have a BJP government, says Mehbooba Mufti

R S Pura/Jammu, Sept 25 (PTI) PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday asserted that Jammu and Kashmir will never have a BJP government and no "secular government" can be formed without the support of her party.

She expressed readiness to support the formation of any "secular government" in Jammu and Kashmir to keep the BJP out of power.

"Jammu and Kashmir will never have a BJP government. There will be a secular government in J-K. Whatever government is formed in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP will be an important factor," Mehbooba Mufti told reporters on the sidelines of an election rally here.

She further stated, "Without PDP's support, no secular government can be formed in Jammu and Kashmir." Responding to a query on whether she would join hands with the National Conference for government formation, she said, "Our aim is to keep the BJP away from power. The PDP will support the formation of any secular government in Jammu and Kashmir to keep BJP away." Asked about the BJP's claim of securing over 50 seats and picking up a chief minister "from the Jammu region", she replied, "They have their own Lieutenant Governor and Prime Minister. What have they done for Jammu all these years? "If they project a Jammu CM as an alternative, they should have appointed a Governor from Jammu. The BJP won't even cross the 15-seat mark." Mehbooba Mufti also responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s criticism of "three families, recalling how her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed "upheld the Indian flag" during times of unrest in Kashmir.

Campaigning for her party candidates in Bisnah, R S Pura, and Jammu, she criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for labelling the Mufti family as anti-national and blaming them for the rise of terrorism.

"They come here to criticise us. They have nothing to offer to the people. Whose opposition are they leading? Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s party, the same man who, since the 1960s, has upheld India’s flag high in Kashmir." "When the National Conference campaigned for independence and talked about joining Pakistan, it was Mufti Sahab who upheld and raised the Indian flag in Kashmir. And now, they call his party anti-national," the PDP chief said.

Praising Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, she termed it a golden period lasting three years.

The BJP and PDP had joined hands after the 2014 assembly polls to form an alliance government in March 2015 led by PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. It was the first time the BJP came to power in J-K, but the alliance was marked by unease and the BJP pulled out in June 2018.

Lambasting the BJP for its policies in the state, she dismissed its promise of appointing a chief minister from Jammu as "hollow and misleading".

"Why isn't there a single advisor from Jammu? During our tenure, the DGP and Chief Secretary were from Jammu, but today, all these positions are held by outsiders," she questioned.

Highlighting issues of unemployment, depression and drug use in Jammu and Kashmir, she also lashed out at the government's electricity policies and the allocation of contracts to "outsiders".

Referring to the Congress-NC alliance, Mehbooba Mufti stated, "When the National Congress entered into an alliance in 1987, Dr. Farooq Abdullah secured Congress's support. Even today, Congress remains under the influence of the National Conference." She blamed the National Conference for the rise of terrorism, alleging electoral fraud in 1987 prevented the formation of an alternative government in Jammu and Kashmir which, she said, led the Kashmiri youths to take up arms.

"To establish an alternative, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed founded the PDP," she said. PTI