Rekha Chowdhary
Mehbooba Mufti has taken over the leadership of the Government amidst various challenges. Holding the position of Chief Minister when there is a coalition Government in place, in itself is a big challenge. However, the kind of coalition that she is heading with ideologically opposite parties is a bigger problem and as the experience of ten months of this coalition under the leadership of her father shows, it may not be a very smooth sailing ahead. PDP and BJP are not politically compatible partners and have greater experience of opposing each other’s political stands rather than accommodating each other’s point of view. That is the reason that the Agenda of Alliance that was put forth by the two parties did not succeed in removing the political gulf between the two parties and all through the period of senior Mufti’s leadership, the Government was struck up with a number of political controversies. Will Mehbooba Mufti be able to cement the divide within the Government and will she be able to channel the energies of the Government towards the larger task of governance – is the most crucial question that everyone is asking. Much of the success of this Government will depend on the kind of leadership that she provides. She will not only have to carry all the coalition partners but will have to keep a constant watch that her Government is not straddled with ever new political controversies. At the personal level, she will have to re-imagine her own political role as well. Till now she has pursued her political career as the leader of the PDP and she has seen Kashmir as her core political constituency. But if she has to re-invent herself as the leader of the whole State, she will have to rise above her party’s politics and win the confidence of all the coalition partners and see the whole of the State as her own political constituency.
The real challenge that Mehbooba Mufti will be facing during her Chief Ministership will be in bringing Jammu and Kashmir regions closer to each other. Though inter-regional tensions have always characterised the politics of this state, however, the regionally fragmented verdict of 2014 Assembly election has led to an unprecedented situation in which PDP and BJP which claim to represent the exclusive regional interest of Kashmir and Jammu region respectively have been compelled to join forces. Though the Agenda of Alliance that was drafted was seen as the basis of minimising the difference between the two parties and bringing the two regions in harmony with each other, however, notwithstanding the Agenda, during the last stint of the PDP-BJP coalition, the regional gap rather than shrinking, had shown the signs of increasing on a number of occasions. Working in the mould of regional rivals rather than the coalition partners, the two parties failed to provide a cohesive model of governance. Off and on situations would arise which had the potential of snowballing into regionally polarised politics. Going by that experience it will be a great task for the new Government not to fall into the trap of internally competitive and decisive politics. On the whole, the major responsibility will lie with the Chief Minister. Much will depend on how she tackles the internal differences within the coalition partners.
At the personal level, though her gender may not be a problematic because her authority as a political leader in her own right is well recognised but Mehbooba Mufti might face some problems in dealing with the senior colleagues within her own party, especially those who have been openly critical of the alliance with the BJP. It is a fact that she is not as young as Omar Abdullah was when he was given the similar responsibility and had tough time dealing with the senior colleagues in his party, but still there have been varied signs of internal dissensions within the PDP and she will need to tackle these firmly. She also faces the challenge of proving her administrative skills as the leader of the Government. The fact remains that she is seen as an administrative novice who has not experienced any Government responsibility so far. Also this is the first time in her political career that she is handling her politics all by herself. Till now she had the unstinted support of her father and that made lot of difference. Donning an altogether new hat of the Chief Minister and that too on her own without the guidance of her father, is going to be an altogether new experience for her.
How good governance her government is going to provide to the people of the state, will be her real test. It is primarily in the area of governance that she would be judged. For a state which is bogged down by multiple manifestations of conflict politics at various levels, governance has been our biggest weak point. Not only there is the issue of institutionalised corruption but also the issues of economic dependence and lack of economic resources. There is a bulging population of educated unemployed youth who need innovative response to the problem of ever shrinking employment opportunities in the Government sector on the one hand and the demeaning and humiliating conditions of work and pay scales for the very few jobs still left in this sector, on the other. How imaginative her Government can be in providing honourable work opportunities to the youth will be a long-term challenge to her Government in general and her leadership in particular.
The inordinate delay in her taking the charge of the Government after the death of her father has created two additional of challenges for her. Of these, the first one relates to the expectations that she had raised about her bargaining capacity with the Central Government. To justify the delay, she will not only need to evolve a smooth relationship with the Centre but also to get tangible benefits for the state. The second case relates to the positive impression that three months’ Governor’s rule has created in the state. The Governor’s rule has been much appreciated for the governance that it provided and the efficiency that it showed in taking swift decisions on important pending issues. With a standard being set during the past three months, the comparisons will be drawn and her Government will be under the constant pressure to perform and deliver results, if not better, at least of the level that was in place during the last three months.
(Feedback welcome at
rekchowdhary@gmail.com)
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