Mehbooba Mufti resigns as BJP-PDP alliance ends in J&K

Hours after the BJP’s decision to pull out of the coalition government, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti resigned as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. She said that her party did everything to address the situation on the ground and was convinced that a muscular policy will never work in the troubled state of J&K.

However, she said that her party is in good spirits and doesn’t want to attempt another government formation. “We are in good spirits. We have no regrets,” she said.

She said that her alliance with the BJP was against the temperament of our people, but there was a bigger reason for the same. “The situation in J&K is not normal. We wanted to adhere to this basic mandate of the people,” Mehbooba said.

According to her, PDP negotiated an agenda of alliance where it ensured that the BJP scaled down. She said that her party convinced the BJP to have status quo on Article 370 and Article 35A and defended (Article) 370 inside the court too. “We pushed for a policy of settlement and convinced them (Centre) to grant amnesty to 11,000 youth booked for stone-pelting. We convinced the centre to announce a one-sided ceasefire during the month of Ramzan. We did everything that we could to address the situation on the ground,’’ she said.

“We believe that a muscular policy will never work to address the situation on the ground. Kashmir is not an enemy territory, and with or without us, things will never change on the ground without the healing touch policy. That’s the only way,” she said.

Addressing a conference, she said that her party didn’t stitch the alliance for power and had big objectives in mind. According to Mehbboba Mufti, the big objective included the offer of dialogue, Prime Minister’s visit to Pakistan and the withdrawal of FIRs against 11,000 youth.