New Delhi, October 23
The Atal Behari Vajpayee government strongly favours a Congress-led government in Jammu and Kashmir even if it were to be a minority government and is apprehensive of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s PDP coming to power.

Well placed political sources told The Tribune today that the Centre’s choice of Congress forming the government in J&K was driven largely by national concerns, though politically also such an arrangement would suit the Vajpayee government.

The Centre’s political strategists believe that if a major nationalistic party like the Congress were to come to power in J&K, India would emerge a winner and the move would send powerful signals to the international community on the Kashmir issue.

And if the Congress government were to fail in J&K the blame would be on the Congress party. It is understood that Congress President Sonia Gandhi is well aware of this Catch-22 situation and that is why she is treading cautiously. The Centre is also reasonably certain that the Congress government would not be soft on terrorists and Pakistan and hopes that Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad would do in J&K what the late Mr Beant Singh did in Punjab on the terrorism front.

On the other hand, the Centre views the PDP’s credentials in this regard with suspicion. Sources said if the PDP were to come to power it would not be able to strike a balance between the national compulsions and the regional aspirations of the people of J&K — a perceived strong point of the Farooq Abdullah government.