While BJP and Congress are involved in a show of strength ahead of the coming Lok Sabha elections, three local parties of Jammu and Kashmir preferred to remain neutral during the exercise.
Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) of Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party of Altaf Bukhari, and the People's Conference of Sajjad Gani Lone have maintained a distance from the ongoing efforts of two national parties to lure more and more political parties in their respective group.
In a show of strength, both the opposition-led alliance and the BJP-led NDA held rival meetings last week to show their strength and exhibit preparedness for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In the ongoing campaign to muster support, a coalition of 26 opposition parties gathered in Bengaluru and formed an alliance-'INDIA' or Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance to take on the BJP in the 2024 General Elections.
PDP and NC are at the forefront to forge the opposition's alliance
Two regional political parties of Jammu and Kashmir namely the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) are actively participating in the opposition's unity efforts. In the presence of NC vice president Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti name of the new coalition was announced.
Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have attended the opposition's meeting at Patna and Bengaluru. Although Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference was an alliance partner of the BJP during the PDP-BJP regime, the party leadership has decided not to become part of any amalgam at the national level.
As far as former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is concerned, he will not become part of any alliance in which Congress will be a party. It is believed that Azad will explore the possibility of forming non-BJP and non-Congress alliances at the national level with the help of some parties which are not part of both the alliance.
Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari has made it clear that his party is not aligned with the BJP or the opposition and stressed that its commitment is to New Delhi and the interest of Jammu and Kashmir.
Bukhari said, "We have to stand with Delhi. That is in the national interest. That is in the interest of my people." While two major parties of Jammu and Kashmir — the National Conference (NC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) — have sided with the other opposition parties, Apni Party has identified itself as politically neutral.
"We are with New Delhi. We are neither with BJP nor with the opposition. We are neither with those parties who have gone to Bengaluru nor with the other (BJP-led NDA).
"As far as the Apni Party is concerned, we stand with Delhi. Tomorrow, you can also presume that we can be with the party that rules in Delhi. However, there is the least possibility of that party (Congress coming to power at the Centre)," Bukhari said.
Asked about his party's potential alliances, he reiterated that Apni Party will support whoever is in power at the Centre.
