As Mehbooba talks kindly of Modi, is PDP sidling towards the BJP?

Kashmir’s People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti has had few nice things to say about Narendra Modi in the past but her latest comments indicate that if push comes to shove in 2014, the party wouldn’t be entirely averse to an alliance with the BJP. In an uncharacteristic thaw in stance, Mufti told the Indian Express in Delhi, “There is a section of people in Kashmir who are of the opinion that maybe Modi will be able to take certain tough decisions regarding Kashmir issue. Modi had a mixed response in the valley.” She tempered it by saying that the general impression was that Modi was a divisive figure, but acknowledged there was a section of people who believed that he would be able to emulate Atal Bihari Vajpayee when it came to policies in Kashmir. The PDP chief also, perhaps in her first public criticism of the Congress leader, said that Rahul Gandhi had the opportunity to be at the forefront of the anti-corruption movement, but squandered it. [caption id=“attachment_1318011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] The PDP chief’s comments come even as the BJP unit in Kashmir has been studiously avoiding criticising the party. Even during Modi’s mammoth ‘Lalkar rally’ in Jammu, the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, the party president and all other speakers chose not to go after the PDP despite past verbal skirmishes. However, the PDP party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had attacked Modi for seeking a debate on the special status to Jammu and Kashmir enshrined in Constitution under Article 370. “Scrap this bridge with rest of the country and the entire gamut of accession and related issues stare in your face. Modi’s raking up of Article 370 is a very disturbing indicator of his approach to sensitivities of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Sayeed had said. Both parties haven’t been talking of an alliance, and therefore Mehbooba’s statements signalling a potential thaw in relations comes as a surprise, but don’t expect an alliance any time soon. “The alliance, if it happens, could be a post election one.” Tariq Ahmad, a researcher in the department of Political Science in Delhi University, said. Speculation was rife that the PDP was considering an alliance with the Congress to ally with after the assembly elections in 2014. But the Congress may have no intention of parting ways with the National Conference just yet and that may have forced the PDP to look to the BJP. “It seems they have failed to convince the central party leadership, despite some senior leaders in the state Congress in favour of the an alliance with PDP. It seems now they are slowly moving towards an alliance with BJP,” Ahmad said. President of Awami Ittihad party Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid said he was surprised by Mufti’s statements on Modi. “When Modi called for a debate on Article 370 both NC and PDP condemned it. How can in such a short time Modi be a person who could take a good decisions for Kashmir? I think Mehbooba said this only to please Narendra Modi and gain sympathy for the future.” Rashid told Firstpost. However, Nasir Sogami, the provincial president of National Conference in Kashmir, doesn’t find this development a very surprising one. “Whenever Mufti goes to Delhi she meets certain BJP leaders to discuss future plans with them. They have been already warming up to each other.  We have been saying all along that PDP is looking for BJP as a future partner for an alliance in post 2014.” Sogami told Firstpost. PDP leaders were unavailable for comment on the matter.