The topple move
KUPWARA BARAMULLA BUDGAM
The BJP, too, was guilty of overreacting to every move or decision Sayeed took. When he announced that Masarat Alam, who was in detention for the 2010 protests, would be released, he was forced to rescind the decision.
Amitabh Mattoo, a reputed academician and an advisor to the Mufti, points out that the late leader had always felt that involving all the stakeholders, including the Hurriyat and Pakistan, would provide security and stability. Drabu reveals that when the Mufti found that the Hurriyat was not mentioned by name in the PDP manifesto for the elections, he insisted that he write it by hand on the printed copies before they were released. Even in the agenda for alliance with the BJP, engaging with the Hurriyat was specifically mentioned. Yet, with the Modi government taking a tough line towards the Hurriyat— even cancelling talks with Pakistan if any of its visiting ministers engaged with it—the Mufti’s ability to facilitate the reconciliation process was severely inhibited.
The real issue, as Mattoo sees it, was that the Mufti saw “governance and development as the centrepiece of the alliance”, and that allying with the BJP would get him the much-needed funds from the Centre. But he soon found himself spending the first months in power on internal reconciliation and juggling his time between politics, economics and governance. He was deeply disappointed over the way flood relief funds that were promised by the Centre were dispensed. After the devastating
SHOPIAN KULGAM
floods in Srinagar, Modi had agreed to the Rs 44,000 crore the state had requested for relief and rehabilitation. Drabu says that the Mufti kept asking whether the promised funds had reached the beneficiaries. Ironically, only on the day he died, the Centre transferred the funds. Mehbooba was shattered by the Mufti’s death and disillusioned by the way the alliance had functioned. She said she would not entertain any discussion on a leadership succession till the customary 40-day mourning period was over. She had built the party through grassroots campaigning. She was more keen on being the head of the party and leaving governance to her father. Since J&K governments are elected for six years, party members had anticipated a gradual transition midway through the term. But that was not to be.
Mehbooba was against taking over until she had iron-clad assurances that the BJP would honour certain key promises in the alliance’s governance agenda. These included transferring land, which had been leased by the defence ministry and was lying vacant, back to the owners, the transfer of two power plants run by the NHPC to the state government, pushing for engagement with the Hurriyat and Pakistan, and considering the lifting of the AFSPA.
The state unit of the BJP was not too happy with the