Cong rules out supporting alternate government in J&K

Congress on Tuesday ruled out supporting an alternate government in Jammu and Kashmir soon after the BJP pulled out of the coalition with the PDP.

The Congress— which had toyed with the idea of propping up a grand alliance including the PDP and the National Conference (NC) after the 2015 Assembly elections threw up a hung House— said the BJP's decision to form a coalition government with the PDP was a Himalayan blunder that had pushed the state into an unending cycle of terror and violence.

“The BJP and PDP have destroyed J&K economically, politically and socially. Who will form an alternative government in such a situation,” Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and senior Congress leader, said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi dubbed the BJP-PDP alliance in the state as “opportunistic” and claimed that it had the state on fire, resulting in the killing of many innocent people including “our brave soldiers”.

“It cost India strategically & destroyed years of UPA’s hard work. The damage will continue under President’s rule. Incompetence, arrogance & hatred always fails,” Rahul said.

Former Home Minister P Chidambaram said the collapse of the opportunistic alliance in Jammu & Kashmir has come as a relief.

“The long-awaited break of the PDP-BJP coalition will be welcomed by all those who despaired that Kashmir may have been lost forever,” Chidambaram said adding that the muscular, militaristic policy propounded by the Modi government was a disaster from day one.

“Let us hope and pray that the muscular, militaristic policy does not come back under the guise of Governor's Rule,” Chidambaram said.

Azad said the Congress-National Conference government under Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had succeeded in putting an end to terrorism and also putting the state back on the path of development.