The strange alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party, which claims to speak for all Hindus in Jammu, and the Peoples Democratic Party, which seeks to represent all Muslims in Kashmir, is contingent on several factors, especially the attitude of the BJP-led government at the Centre to the PDP-led government in Jammu and Kashmir. In the absence of any special favours from the Centre to the State, the PDP will obviously find it extremely difficult to politically sell its alliance with the Hindutva party to supporters in the Kashmir valley. If the alliance is not to appear as a marriage of convenience solely for the perks of power, the PDP will have to wrest special concessions for the overall development of the State. The promised “special” financial package for J&K from the Centre is thus crucial for the continuance of the alliance. While the PDP certainly does not want to lose its hold on power, party president Mehbooba Mufti has communicated to BJP president Amit Shah that the alliance would be untenable without the special financial package for J&K, which was meant to generate jobs and rebuild infrastructure in the State, affected by natural calamities and terror.
But what is problematic for the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in announcing a package is its likely political fallout. Both the BJP and the PDP would want to take credit for it, and would want it to serve their own distinct political constituencies. Thus, while BJP leaders would want a substantial part of the package to be spent in Jammu, the PDP leaders are hoping the package would be mostly to revive Kashmir’s economy. It would do the BJP’s political prospects no good if the Centre is seen as succumbing to the PDP’s pressure. But the Prime Minister and his Ministers ought not to see the special package solely through the prism of the BJP leaders in Jammu. Whether the announcement is made as part of the Independence Day address or during the Prime Minister’s visit to the State in the third week of August might seem a matter of insignificant detail. After all, in real terms what is important for the people of J&K is the nature of the package, and not when and where it is announced. Petty political considerations should not be allowed to interfere with government decisions. What is material is not whether the package and the circumstances of its announcement would strengthen or worsen PDP-BJP relations or whether those would boost or bust the electoral prospects of the two parties, but whether the people of J&K get a package that is large, equitable and just.
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