NC is Facing tough challenge from PDP in Kashmir. MUNISH SHARMA JAMMU: The election scene in Kashmir valley is very interesting. NC, which has lost much of its sheen and appeal and become quite unpopular owing to its various acts of omission and commission and failure to deliver on any front, especially governance, is fighting the toughest ever election battle. In 2009, it had captured all the three seats defeating PDP candidates, but the victory margin was not really appreciable considering the fact that PDP was a newly-founded party. That year also, NC contested election in Kashmir in alliance with Congress. But 2014 is not 2009. Much water has flown down the river Vitasta (Jhelum) after 2009. Its arch-political foe PDP is on a very strong wicket. If one goes by the prevailing political situation in the terrorist and separatist-infested Kashmir valley and the tone and tenor of NC leaders, including party president Farooq and working president Omar Abdullah, who is also the Chief Minister, then one can say that they are unlikely to repeat the 2009 performance. Farooq Abdullah is seeking re-election from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat. Desperate and frustrated as they appear, they have unleashed a no-holds-barred campaign against PDP leaders, including party patron Mufti Sayeed and his daughter and party president Mehbooba Mufti and PDP candidates. Mehbooba is contesting election from Anantnag Parliamentary constituency and the election in this constituency was held on April 24. The fact of the matter is that NC leaders have been using a very strong language against the exceptionally aggressive PDP leadership and candidates. So much so, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and everyone who matters in NC have been leaving no stone unturned to create an impression in the Valley that the Muftis are the agents of BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and that their victory would mean an irreparable damage to what they term as the Kashmiri cause. In fact, they have been telling the people of Kashmir that PDP and BJP are working in tandem to dilute the special status the state enjoys under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has even gone to the extent of dubbing Mufti Sayeed as Amit Shah of Narendra Modi in Kashmir. One may put in any amount of efforts to find if the NC is seeking the peoples mandate on developmental agenda or on the basis of the report card of the NC-Congress coalition Government, you will come out of the exercise minus everything. Its no wonder then that the Muftis and other PDP leaders are tearing into the NC and the NC-led Government and painting them black, anti-Kashmir and anti-movement. Not just this, the PDP leaders are doing all that they could to prove that the NC leaders, especially Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, have all along traded Kashmir and Kashmiri sub-nationalism to capture power, retain control over it and enjoy the loaves and fishes of office. The PDP leadership, it appears, has been quite successful in putting across its poll planks. There is no doubt whatever that the PDP leadership will turn the tables on NC and it might walk away with at least two seats - Baramulla and Anantnag -- where partys stalwarts Mehbooba Mufti and PDP ideologue and firmer Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig are pitted against not-so-strong and popular NC candidates Mehboob Beg and Sharif-ud-Din Shariq. Even the electoral chances of Farooq Abdullah are not really bright. His Kashmiris are mahachor comment and similar other controversial statements have not gone down well with common Kashmiris. The truth, in short, is that the NC candidates are depending more on separatists who have been calling for poll boycott than on any impressive and attractive poll plank. This is the ground situation in the sensitive Kashmir valley. Two things are more than manifestly clear. One is that there is the possibility of the Muftis becoming part of the BJP-led NDA after the announcement of election results on May 16 in case it wins at east two seats. This belief stems from the fact that both the Muftis have made umpteen positive statements on BJP. They believe that BJP would help resolve the so-called Kashmir issue. The other is that the Abdullahs, if they win a seat or two, could leave the UPA and flirt with the NDA. The Abdullahs are fair weather cocks and they are unpredictable. They can change sides anytime, as they cannot remain without power. One can say for sure that PDP leadership is politically more honest and NC leadership is not. However, one has to wait till May 16 to make a right observation. All depends on how many seats NC and PDP win.
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 12:23:45 +0000
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