Alliance with PDP was compulsion, says BJP's Ram Madhav
What's the story
After Bharatiya Janata Party dumped Peoples Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir, the saffron party's leader Ram Madhav said forging the alliance earlier was a compulsion as otherwise people would have been disappointed. He said the BJP had won 25 seats in the 89-member assembly and it would have been unfair to people if the party didn't form a government. Here's more.
What he said
Everyone, including the PM, invested heavily in alliance, says Madhav
Speaking at a ZEE conclave, Madhav stressed that BJP supported the alliance wholeheartedly, but the events in the last one and half months forced the decision. Claiming it wasn't an easy alliance, Madhav added, "My entire party, right up to the Prime Minister, had invested heavily in it, hoping to deliver the goods to the people." He said a lot was achieved in three-years.
Quote
On Ramzan ceasefire, Madhav says it was Mehbooba Mufti's suggestion
"The separatists should have accepted this goodwill gesture and come ahead to start some political activity, but they chose to silence free voices such as (journalist) Shujaat Bukhari," said Madhav when talking about Ramzan ceasefire. He said stopping anti-terror activities was Mehbooba Mufti's suggestion.
The reason
PDP's suggestion to continue ceasefire led to alliance break-up: Madhav
Madhav said the PDP and BJP alliance went south after the former's suggestion to continue ceasefire. PDP's stand on initiating talks with Pakistan further deteriorated the situation. He added walking out of the alliance was not politically motivated but was done in the greater interest of the country. Notably, Mufti had earlier said 'muscular power' would not yield any results in the valley.
Details
Further, Ram Madhav added BJP didn't break any 'coalition dharma'
On Tuesday, the BJP pulled out of the alliance, forcing Mehbooba Mufti to resign. When asked why his party didn't inform Mufti earlier, Madhav said, "We could not talk before we sent (the fax message) it. By the time we could talk to each other, the letter had already gone, but this does not break any coalition dharma." Madhav said Mufti was a nationalist.