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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The Centre views the election results in Jammu and Kashmir as an emphatic victory of India's 'well-established democratic process', a senior Ministry of Home Affairs official told rediff.com on Thursday.
He hoped the systematic rooting out of militancy and restoration of peace in the state would be the first priority of the new government.
On the Centre's reaction to the likelihood of a Congress-People's Democratic Party government, he said, "Leaders ranging from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his deputy L K Advani, BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu and National Conference chief Omar Abdullah have all said the polls results are a victory of democracy. That is what matters. Parties come and go."
He said India's constitutional system is strong and cannot be subverted by militancy.
"The very fact the people of J&K braved death and destruction to exercise their franchise shows they believe in the democratic system, which has triumphed," he said.
Asked about the BJP's poor showing -- the party has won one seat -- the official referred to intelligence reports from the state, which referred to the 'anger' of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh against the party for rejecting their demand for trifurcating the state.
"Our reading is that like in the Delhi elections, the RSS cadres in Jammu remained inactive out of disenchantment with the BJP leadership, which greatly damaged the party's electoral prospects," he said.
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