NEW DELHI – Hours after the shocking decision by the BJP to pull of Jammuand Kashmir government, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh held a high-levelsecurity meeting in the National Capital on Monday.
The high-level security meeting was attended by National Security AdvisorAjit Doval, Home Secretary and Joint Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir andother officers.
It is interesting to know that earlier in the day, Doval had met BJP chiefAmit Shah also.
With Governor NN Vohra in-charge of the state for the time being and theIndian Army resuming its operation ‘all out’ in Jammu and Kashmir post theRamzan ceasefire, the meeting assumes greater significance as it is seen asan attempt by the Centre to chalk out new Kashmir policy.
Though Mehbooba Mufti is against such a ‘muscular policy’, the groundreality is that the deteriorating security situation in the Valley mayforce the Modi government to explore a robust response.
The fast-paced developments come in the backdrop of sensational killing ofveteran journalist Shujaat Bukhari on the eve of Eid ul-Fitr.
Many believe that the way Mufti government was handling the radicalelements in the Valley was not enough.
In the state elections in 2015, the BJP won 25 seats and the PDP 28 in the87-member Assembly. The two parties came together to form government withan Agenda of Alliance.
With no party having enough numbers, the state may be heading towards earlyelection. National Conference senior leader and former Jammu and KashmirChief Minister Omar Abdullah also said that it would be better for thestate if the people of Jammu and Kashmir have the right to choose theirgovernment.
Meanwhile, the Congress also ruled out any tie-up with the PDP after theBJP pulled out of the ruling alliance in Jammu and Kashmir.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said here that the BJP hadcommitted a “Himalayan blunder” by forming a government with the PDP.
He said the BJP, a national party, should not have allied with PDP, aregional player.
“The regional parties should have been allowed to form an alliance amongthemselves,” he told reporters here.
The alliance has devastated the state, be it economically or socially, andhas left Jammu and Kashmir in a state of “ruins”, he said.