PDP-BJP alliance: Mufti Sayeed faces a balancing act

Jammu, March 8: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed will need more than over 50 years of experience as a mature politician to keep the ruling PDP-BJP alliance on an even keel as controversies rattle the coalition even before it starts delivering on promises of peace and development. The very first media conference Mufti Sayeed addressed after taking over as the chief minister last Sunday in winter capital Jammu rocked Parliament over his remarks that gave credit to Pakistan, the separatist Hurriyat and militants for the smooth conduct of the state assembly elections. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had to make a statement in the Lok Sabha contradicting Sayeed's statement. Sayeed has followed up his statement on separatists and militants by ordering the release of political prisoners. Sayeed is obviously trying to keep his Valley-centric political constituency intact by ordering the release of political prisoners and also trying to prove that an alliance with the BJP could be far more Valley friendly than his adversaries want the people to believe. But the problem for Sayeed is that in this case what is sauce for the goose might not be sauce for the gander. The BJP dismisses the PDP idea that some of the top separatist leaders like Masrat Alam and Mushtaq-ul-Islam are political prisoners. Masrat Alam, the chief of a militant outfit, was arrested during the 2010 unrest in the Valley. Both state and central intelligence agencies slam him for inciting thousands of youths to violence during 2010. The problem for Sayeed is that his party's political interests are at conflict with those of his alliance partners in the BJP, despite the two having taken over two months to work out a common minimum programme (CMP).