Fractured verdict of the electorate in Assembly election rightly caused some anxiety to the leadership in the country and the State. Since no party won requisite number of seats to form a Government, people felt disappointed with the impending prospect of a Coalition Government coming back to the centre stage. Anxiety among stakeholders deepened when chances of permutation and combination among the stakeholders promised very little success. The State had to be placed under Governor’s rule. Nevertheless, behind the curtain negotiations prolonged but did not either cease or break down. That speaks for the patience and perseverance of the interlocutors. It is also a sign of political maturity demonstrated by the two shortlisted parties, namely PDP and BJP. For seven long weeks, negotiations were carried forward by the two parties and finally on Saturday last the impasse was broken. More than two months after poll results were announced, a Coalition Government of PDP and BJP has been sworn in. A proclamation from the Raj Bhavan in Jammu declared that the Government of the people had been cobbled together and was now at the helm of affairs.
The reason why cobbling together of the Government took unusually long time should be explained. Ideological and conceptual difference between the two negotiating sides was deep and closely connected with the multi-dimensional Kashmir issue. Both sides are vehemently committed to some fundamental approach to the Kashmir issue with all its ramifications. These commitments were further cemented by pronouncements made by both sides in the course of heated election campaign for the Assembly seats. Negotiations were further complicated by the unique nature of people’s verdict. Jammu region returned 25 seats for BJP and Kashmir region returned 27+1 for PDP. With two victorious independent candidates aligning themselves with BJP, almost parity was struck between the two sides. Interestingly, both sides equally balanced as they were, realized at the end of the day that only reasonable compromise could steer both through the troubled waters. Prolonged and tedious negotiations demanded good deal of leg-work as well as brain-work. One can say that the compromise is a reassuring proof that both sides want development and prosperity of the State as well as peace and tranquility for the people. Had it not been there, talks would have failed and the State had no alternative but to go a long way to return to democratic dispensation. The inference one may draw from this strenuous exercise is that our democratic system has wide scope for compromise, accommodation, adjustment and even concession.
Now that uncertainty has been removed and Government formed, all eyes are focused on the task ahead and the way the Coalition Government is going to respond to the challenges. The task ahead is huge and challenging and at the same time expectations of the people are more than what one may imagine. Broadly speaking, the task ahead falls under two categories; what is to be undone and what is to be done. It is no small an agenda. Whatever obstructs forward movement of the State and whatever prevents it from providing good governance need to be undone. Be it corruption, malfunctioning of the administration, vested interests, anti-national and anti-people activities, dereliction of duty and misuse of power, all these negative traits have to be removed once for all. We know that the deck cannot be cleared in one go. But the beginning has to be made somehow and somewhere if the parties are determined to implement their respective election manifestoes. The essential purpose of the administration is to provide good governance. This is the litmus test for the Coalition Government. And good governance does not need proofs and evidences; it is a self-generating process. Conditions are very favourable for giving the people real good governance. The common people must be convinced that somebody takes care of their interests. Many state organizations and administrative functionaries are besmeared with defamation and notoriety of being corrupt and stigmatized. To the ordinary people they are the red rag to the bull. The Coalition Government will have to come above fear and favour and deal with the scourge of corruption, nepotism and favoritism in accordance with the law of the land, but with determination and norms of justice.
The second part of the task before the Coalition Government is of balanced development of all the three regions. Let us not open the Pandora’s Box by citing one or the other failing of the previous Governments. That does not help. Let us concentrate on what needs to be done and with what resources and instrumentality the doable can be done. Having bigger income per capita does not vouch for the prosperity of the State. The basic requirements for developing the State in all respects are proper infrastructure, industrial push, uninterrupted road, rail, and air connectivity, growth of agricultural production, skilled labour, technological advancement and modern norms of tourism and tourist industry. Above all, our State needs sufficient power which, in turn, means sensible harnessing of our enormous water resource. For balanced growth of industries we must have the pre-requisites of road and rail connectivity, regular supply of raw material, uninterrupted power, assured market and regularization of labour laws etc. Enormous task of eradicating illiteracy from the state and providing health service to each and every individual are steering in the eye of the government. Educational reforms are badly needed if we want to banish unemployment among the youth of the State. The task of developing a hilly state in which there are unprecedented difficulties of roads, transport, distribution of civil supplies, welfare and health services, demands extraordinary patience and vision on the part of the rulers.
A redeeming factor, very special to this coalition, is that it is almost evenly balanced in terms of regional representation. That is a plus point and the decades-old complaints of lopsided preferential treatment in developmental tasks will have no scope with this Government. That should augur well for the State. In unison, the collating parties can achieve much more than what normally will be expected of it. A close look at the agenda for alliance that has been hammered out with great patience, understanding and objectivity, ably reflects comprehensive approach of the coalition to the developmental vision for the State. It also touches on contentious issues but confidently asserts its ability to negotiate a solution through dialogue. The most encouraging sign is that both parties are strongly committed to bringing about an era of peace believing that peace is the unavoidable condition for development.
Let us hope this is actually ushering in a new era in the political history of the State. We have suffered two and a half decades of insurgency, militancy, gun culture and breakdown of social construct. The new coalition needs to keep the contentious issues aside and give peace, development and progress a chance.
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