PDP’s hopes on the political front belied

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an economic package of Rs. 80,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir here on Saturday, but the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was upset by his silence on a “political package” it had been expecting. Even so, the PDP, which is in an alliance with the BJP in the State, will take a “holistic view of the situation”.
Addressing a packed Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium, Mr. Modi said “not only Delhi’s treasures but Delhi’s ‘Dil’ [heart] is also always for the people of Kashmir”.
He chose to redefine the phrases used by the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee 12 years ago at this venue, by dropping references to Pakistan and separatists.
“There can’t be a bigger message than Mr. Vajpayee’s Jamhooriyat, Insaaniyat and Kashmiriyat[democracy, humanity and the essence of being a Kashmiri]. The State’s development has to stand on these three pillars... People participated in recent polls and came out in huge numbers even for the panchayat polls. This was Atalji’s dream,” Mr. Modi said. Describing Insaaniyat as the “biggest virtue”, he said India was incomplete without Kashmiriyat.
In an oblique reference to Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’s suggestion to extend the hand of friendship to Pakistan, Mr. Modi said, “We need no external advice on foreign policy.” Mr. Sayeed had said, “If India has to be ahead of China, as an elder brother, it should reach out to the younger brother [Pakistan]. Let us extend friendship to Pakistan. Vajpayee’s peace initiative ensured a decade-long thaw in India-Pakistan relations.”
PDP feels Modi lost a big opportunity
The much-hyped visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Saturday has further strained the relations between the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, partners of the ruling coalition in the State. Most PDP leaders had raised the expectations of people that the visit would see “groundbreaking initiatives” from the Prime Minister on the economic and political fronts.
A senior PDP Minister said Mr. Modi’s speech had not met the party’s expectations. “The economic package is a welcome step, but it is not enough. It is short of what we had expected. The PM missed the opportunity of using such a grand setting to reach out to a number of constituencies. There is a sense of disappointment,” he said. “The PDP will take a holistic view of the situation.”
Earlier, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said: “Our endeavour would be to respond to, and mitigate, the complex problems of the State, faced as it is with a decades-long political uncertainty, a development deficit, unfulfilled aspirations, mounting unemployment and corruption.”
Mr. Modi promised the Centre’s support to the State to end unemployment, provide better roads, affordable quality education, boost tourism and skill development.
“Besides the highway, Kashmir will be part of the ‘i-way’, wherein optical fibres and Internet facility will be made available,” he said.
On the return of Kashmiri Pandits, Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed said at the Prime Minister’s meeting that he did “not favour any Israeli-type settlement but their larger integration into the social milieu of Kashmir”.
The working president of the Opposition National Conference, Omar Abdullah, accused Mr. Modi of “burying Vajpayee’s legacy”.
“Modi sahib used Vajpayee’s words in a different context, in contrast to Vajpayee’s when he reached out to Pakistan. When the PM referred to Insaniyaat, there was no reference to the Dadri and Udhampur incidents,” Mr. Abdullah said.
“We expected him to reach out to the Hurriyat and Pakistan as Vajpayee did. He could have announced an economic package in Delhi too and there was no need to put the valley under siege,” he said.