Vimal Sumbly
It is outrageous to conclude that the Jammu and Kashmir elections have thrown up a “mess” as the outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will make us believe. That simply amounts to scorning the people’s verdict which must be welcomed and respected by all. May be the verdict has not gone according to his will and the wishes but elections are like that. Apparently Omar’s discomfiture lies not in his party doing badly, but the People’s Democratic Party not doing very good. As this means the PDP, the other party more or less exclusively representative of the Kashmiri Muslims, will necessarily have to tie up either with the Congress, which it had done earlier also, or with the BJP. That eventually might make the BJP a partner in the Government and the power. That will be an anathema for anyone like Omar Abdullah in Kashmir. So much so Omar went to the extent of saying that he could even consider supporting PDP, if the party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed requested for the same, apparently to keep BJP out of power.
One may have political differences with the BJP. But keeping the party deliberately and opportunistically out of power just because one does not like it, it amounts to undermining the popular mandate. In Kashmir people have voted for the PDP to form the Government and so have they voted in Jammu region for the BJP to form the Government. Omar by offering to support Mufti may be thinking to have played a political masterstroke vis-a-vis Kashmir, but this may lead to alienating the people in the Jammu region. He should better not forget that in Jammu region, rather in the Jammu suburbs two of his party candidates Devinder Singh Rana and Kamal Verma won from Nagrota and Bishnah constituencies respectively.
He also knows that Mufti will be the last person to dial him for support. But, more than that he knows that he can sell this offer to the people of Kashmir in future, if PDP goes to form the Government in alliance with the BJP, by saying that he had gone to the extent of supporting the PDP in order to keep away BJP and this piece of propaganda will readily sell in Kashmir. If that happens, that will be quite unfortunate for the state politics.
Whether one likes it or not, BJP is the most relevant factor in Jammu and Kashmir as on now in terms of electoral politics. It not only holds key to the Government formation, but it has proved to be the sole representative of a vast and extensive Jammu region which deserves a place in the Government. Rather, in terms of vote share, it is the largest party with 23 per cent, against 22.7 of the PDP. You cannot shut your doors on Jammu in the Government. No Government will be stable if Jammu remains unrepresented. BJP by relaxing its position on certain contentious issues has indicated the scope for resilience. So must PDP. In fact PDP leadership has not been as hostile towards the BJP as the National Conference. There is no harm in the two parties coming together to form the Government.
Post-poll alliances do not necessarily need any ideological cohesion. These can work on a common minimum programme and the biggest example being the Akali Dal-BJP alliance in Punjab which has been working together for decades. If the Akali Dal and the BJP can have a successful alliance in Punjab, there is no reason why PDP and BJP cannot have an alliance in Jammu and Kashmir. The two parties do not sync ideologically in any way. Akali Dal and BJP are ideologically opposed to each other as much as the PDP and BJP and still they are pulling it very successfully. Akali Dal is against the abrogation of Article 370, uniform civil code and wants a separate constitutional identity for Sikhs as an independent religion, while BJP’s position is quite reverse on all these three issues.
The only stable Government as on now in Jammu and Kashmir looks to be a PDP-BJP alliance. This will provide a balanced representation to the people of the two regions. While PDP will be the representative party of the Kashmir region, the BJP in same way will be representative of the Jammu region. The two parties can always work out a common minimum programme avoiding contentious issues and providing good governance.
A PDP-Congress alliance would have been ideal. But that does not add up to the requisite numbers. The PDP-Congress Government will be dependent on the fringe and independent MLAs, who in absence of any ideological commitment can always hold the Government to ransom.
A BJP-NC alliance can be also be a possibility but quite unlikely a probability. They will again need to depend on the independents thus again threatening instability.
Looking beyond partisan approach and in the pure interest of a stable Government in Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP and BJP should come together and form a Government. Yes there will be the issue of “rotating the Chief Ministership” between the two. BJP may be having little less numbers, but it has slightly more overall vote share than the PDP. This will also test the levels of mutual respect and tolerance between the respective and representative parties of Kashmir and Jammu regions for the sentiments of the people of the other region. Not only that, the next Government formation will also determine whether Jammu and Kashmir will continue to remain a unified state given the vertical divide between the two regions during the voting.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel