BJP denies joining hands with PDP

Criticising both the Peoples Democratic Party and the National Conference as Kashmir-centric parties which discriminate against the Jammu region, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday termed former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah's statement that there is a BJP-PDP alliance as "totally irresponsible and politically motivated".

"The BJP condemns the statement of Dr Abdullah alleging an alliance of the BJP with the PDP as totally irresponsible and politically motivated," BJP spokesperson Ramesh Arora told media-persons in Jammu. Referring to the recent legislative council elections, he said the fact that both the BJP and PDP had voted in favour of the Jammu Kashmir National Panthers Party candidate does not mean that there was any kind of understanding between them as both parties had voted on their own.

Arora said BJP is a party with a difference and has its own ideology. It has always opposed Kashmir-centric parties, including PDP and NC, as they are responsible for the continuous discrimination against the Jammu region. He said the BJP is committed to remove the present political imbalance between the Kashmir Valley and the Jammu region where, Jammu, despite its larger geographical area and population, has only 37 assembly seats while the Kashmir Valley has 46.

Arora said the BJP has taken a tough stand over issues like delimitation, unemployment and problems of refugees as these were commitments made in its election manifesto. Alleging that the ruling coalition partners have not taken any stand about these problems, he said that the Congress maintained a criminal silence in the recent assembly session over the return of refugees, delimitation and unemployment although these were incorporated in their election manifesto for the last assembly elections.

The BJP will raise all these issues in the forthcoming parliamentary elections and expose the discriminatory attitude of the Kashmir-centric parties and leaders towards the Jammu region, he said. The ruling coalition partners--Congress and NC--do not have any common minimum programme, he said and alleged that their minimum and maximum programme is to share power one way or another.