BJP-PDP govt failed in Kashmir, Governer's rule 'imperative', says Farooq Abdullah

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said the BJP-PDP government has failed on both governance&political front and imposition of governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir is “unavoidable and imperative” to restore normalcy and peace in the Valley.

The former chief minister also seemed to have suggested that replacing the chief minister by some BJP leader, as reported by some media “would not help” the PDP-BJP alliance.

“Imposition of governor’s rule and placing the legislative assembly under suspended animation is unavoidable and imperative to restore normalcy and peace in Kashmir... The PDP-BJP alliance is bereft of a political agenda and has been forged with the singular purpose of attaining power.

“The alleged ‘Agenda of the Alliance’ (the common minimum programme between the alliance partners) has been torn to shreds and debunked by the BJP. As far as the PDP is concerned, they gave the ‘Agenda of the Alliance’ a discreet burial when (former chief minister) Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) passed away (last year)”, Abdullah said in a statement here.

The Member of Parliament from Srinagar constituency said the imposition of governor’s rule is not an ideal solution but it is the only plausible option in the present circumstances where the State is being “pushed back to the uncertainty and turmoil” of the early 1990s.

“This is for the first time in almost three decades that an election had to be cancelled and we are down from a 26 percent turnout to a 7 per cent turnout—thanks to this government’s policies and failure. The imposition of governor’s rule would calm tempers and also make the administration to be perceived as politically neutral— allowing basic governance to be restored,” he said.

Abdullah said the state bureaucracy is in a state of “disarray and dismay” owing to “mishandling and unprecedented impropriety” by the PDP-BJP government.

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“Juniors are being promoted over seniors and key departments are being run in an ad-hoc and chaotic manner. The result is a complete failure on the governance front in addition to a failure on the political front. There is no sign of development. The only sign of the government is these ribbon-cutting photo-opportunities of the Chief Minister inaugurating projects of the previous government in the state,” he said.

On a media report that BJP was planning to replace Mehbooba Mufti with a Chief Minister from the party, Abdullah said such a step would not help restore peace in the Valley as the alliance in its entirety had failed and was unable to deliver and fulfil its political promises.

“Changing horses midway won’t help. The government has become extremely unpopular and lost the faith and support of the people as is evident with every passing day and as seen a couple of days ago when female attendees at a government organised event at SKICC refused to be addressed by the CM and stormed out of the event raising slogans,” the former Union Minister said.

Abdullah's reference was to the Tuesday’s incident when Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was forced to leave a women’s self-help group (SHG) function in Srinagar after the crowd shouted slogans against her and even flung chairs in the air.

Abdullah reiterated the need for an “open-ended, unconditional and uninterrupted” dialogue with Pakistan and stakeholders in Kashmir, which he observed as “the only way forward to deal with the issue.”

He said that the dialogues if initiated soon, would be better for the state.

“My apprehension is that the damage done would be far too much to handle and reverse by the time such a political initiative is taken. There should be no further delay,” he said.