Srinagar, January 3: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday denied Opposition's charge of not engaging with all stakeholders to resolve the dispute in Jammu & Kashmir. While participating in the debate in Rajya Sabha on the political instability in the Valley, Rajnath said the separatist conglomerate of All Parties Hurriyat Conference had turned down the Centre's initiative for dialogue.

"A notion has been spread that BJP does not want to talk to the Hurriyat. We had given an all-party delegation the mandate to reach out to the separatists and engage with them in official capacity. But they shut their doors on us," Rajnath told the Upper House. Arun Jaitley Trains Guns at Congress, NC as Rajya Sabha Debates Kashmir Instability.

"If they would had agreed for talks with us, maybe some path would had opened up. I had also informed the then CM Mehbooba Mufti to convey to the Hurriyat that the government is ready for unconditional talks with them," the Home Minister added.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley blamed the Congress and its J&K ally National Conference for the instability in Kashmir. The BJP veteran said his party should not be blamed for the condition in the Valley as they had "no role in Kashmir before 2014".

Jaitley further said that the Congress and NC -- which ruled the state for several years -- crippled its economy and ensured that Kashmir remains deprived of political and economic development.

J&K was left without an elected government in June last year, when the BJP pulled out of the coalition led by Mehbooba Mufti's PDP. In December, the Governor's rule was replaced by President's rule -- necessitating fresh elected to the legislative assembly seats within six months.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 03, 2019 05:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).