Blaming BJP

JK Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari has surprised many of his political opponents when he said in a recent public rally that BJP is equally responsible for the present situation of Jammu and Kashmir.

He has been dubbed by his political opponents as being working at the behest of BJP in Jammu and Kashmir and many of them have accused his party of being “B” team of BJP.

As the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration accused the Apni Party of being the BJP’s B-team and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah even called it a king’s party, Bukhari said the BJP, Congress, National Conference and People’s Democratic Party were equally responsible for the present situation of Jammu and Kashmir. Bukhari was addressing a rally at the Sheri Kashmir Park in Srinagar.

Bukhari said the Kashmir issue and participation in the electoral process have nothing to do with each other. He said mainstream parties had created a narrative that participation in the voting is against “Kashmir issue and the Kashmir movement.”

Bukhari has tried to allay the fears among his supporters that he was working for the centre and by blaming the BJP equally for the present situation in Jammu and Kashmir he has tried to distance himself from being accused of working in Kashmir for BJP.

Altaf Bukhari was cabinet minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government and even before he joined the politics he was very close to both Abdullah’s and Mufti’s as a business tycoon.