Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 27: Former minister and senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla today strongly criticised BJP for joining alliance against the wishes and aspirations of Jammu people and then abruptly ending its alliance with the PDP in the State just with the motive to attain power and did not bother to sacrifice its core ideology for the lust of power.
Addressing public meeting at Digiana in Gandhi Nagar today, Bhalla alleged that the BJP plunged the State, which has been marred by a deteriorating law and order situation, into greater uncertainty. People of Jammu region had expected the BJP to be a little serious and focused. What they did, however, was opposite to their expectations. That underlines that BJP cannot handle issues of governance and national security,” he added.
“This alliance was untenable since the beginning. It was an alliance between forces that never saw eye to eye on any issue but came together in an act of sheer opportunism to share the spoils of office,” Bhalla said.
Indicating that the BJP cannot absolve itself from a series of political failures in the State over the last four years, he said, “ The BJP being a coalition partner of the State Government and holding office in the Central Government had promised the people of Jammu region to get them rid of discrimination and several other tall promises. Neither of these promises which were publicly announced has been fulfilled. If they had sincerely followed up, the situation could have improved.”
Bhalla said that the BJP should be held “doubly responsible” for the deteriorating situation in J&K as it was in power for more than three years in the State and also has been ruling the Centre.
“First you destroy J&K, take the State to its lowest ebb in terms of political and economic strategy. Then, flee from the scene once you have done unprecedented damage,” Bhalla said.
Bhalla maintained that BJP was facing flak from its core constituencies for not raising its age-old issues like abolition of Article 370 or having an ambiguous stance on whether it should have a dialogue with separatists or not. Now by pulling out of the Government, it may go back to its hyper-nationalist campaign. But, in the meantime, it has pushed the state into greater turmoil.
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