Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 8: Battle for two Legislative Council seats of Jammu region, the election for which will be held on April 17, has become murkier further with four Independent and Other MLAs, who hold key to one of the seats, keeping the cards close to their chest and refusing to divulge whether they would support Ruling BJP or Opposition Congress.
All four MLAs, who have once again shot into prominence as had been the case during Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections in February-March 2015, were likely to take individual decision on the voting or abstentions and there was no possibility of a collective decision as they didn’t seem to have a “common meeting ground”.
Four seats of the Legislative Council were decided uncontested on April 3 while election will be held for two seats of Jammu region for which there were three candidates in the fray including Abdul Qayoom Dar (PDP), Vikram Randhawa (BJP) and Thakur Balbir Singh (Congress).
As per PDP-BJP understanding, Dar had to be given safe passage to the Upper House of Legislature with 30 votes, leaving 28 votes of the Ruling Alliance for Randhawa. Balbir Singh has support of 27 MLAs of NC and Congress. There are four Independents and Others including Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami (CPM), Hakim Yasin (PDF), Pawan Gupta (MLA Udhampur) and Engineer Rashid (MLA Langate), whose votes or abstentions would decide the fate of Randhawa and Balbir Singh.
Tarigami, a four-time MLA from Kulgam, told the Excelsior that he has sent a detailed note on the Legislative Council elections to his party’s national general secretary, Sitaram Yechury and sought his direction on voting.
“We have set precedence on the decisions of significant political importance. Such matters are decided by our party high command. I have given detailed report to Yechury on the voting and sought his advice on the ground that our vote had the potential of tilting fortunes of the two candidates. Whatever the advice comes from the high command, we will abide by that,” he said, adding the decision is expected in the next few days.
Hakim Yasin, a three-time MLA from Khansahib, dropped some hints through his assertion that his party has tradition to go with secular forces.
“We have boycotted Lok Sabha by-election on Srinagar seat. As far as the MLC election is concerned, we were yet to take a decision though we generally go with the secular forces,” Hakim, a former Minister, said.
Engineer Rashid, a second-time MLA from Langate, said: “I’ve not given even a thought to the Legislative Council election so far. Whenever I take any decision, I will convey it”. He dropped enough hints that he was yet to take a decision on whether to vote or abstain and if vote-in which party’s favour he will go.
Independent MLA from Udhampur, Pawan Gupta, former Minister, is all guns blazing against the BJP but made it clear that he hasn’t taken decision so far on whom he would cast his vote or whether he would vote or abstain.
Gupta is deadly against the State BJP leadership for making tall promises with him two years back and then, instead of fulfilling them, trying to humiliate him by openly violating protocol during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Udhampur visit on April 2 in which his name was removed from the persons sitting on the dais allegedly “at the behest of State BJP leadership”.
Gupta said he would announce his decision on voting in the next few days.
During February 2015 Rajya Sabha elections and March 2015 Legislative Council polls, MY Tarigami and Hakim Yasin had openly voted for Opposition Congress and National Conference candidates while Pawan Gupta had voted for the BJP. However, Engineer Rashid had never made his decision public but it was believed that he too had voted for the Opposition candidates.
It was the vote of three Independent MLAs, which had resulted into the victory of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to Rajya Sabha while three other seats were captured by PDP and BJP (PDP 2 and BJP 1).
However, after Pawan Gupta was unceremoniously removed from the Council of Ministry in April last year, this is the first Legislative Council elections.
Insiders in Congress and BJP claimed that backchannel contacts are on with all four Independent and Other MLAs to secure their votes for their respective candidates.
Sources said some senior Congress leaders, who were close to all four MLAs, have contacted them and sought their vote for Thakur Balbir Singh. Similarly, BJP Ministers and other senior leaders were also trying to convince Pawan Gupta to vote for the BJP candidates and were persuading three others to abstain from the voting as it would serve their purpose.
BJP leaders were of the view that vote of Pawan Gupta would take their number to 29. And even if one Independent MLA votes for Balbir Singh and two others abstained, Balbir will end up with 28 votes, leading to the victory of the BJP candidate.
The Congress needs vote of at least three Independent MLAs to make it to 30 votes and leave BJP candidate behind at 28 or 29.
Sources said the PDP was likely to put its weight behind the BJP candidate by approaching Independents and Others after April 12 when polling for Anantnag by-poll will be over. However, on the other, National Conference would also use its ‘goodwill’ with the Independents to persuade the Independents to cast their vote for the Congress.
Out of four seats, which were decided unopposed on April 3, BJP had won two while PDP and National Conference got one each.
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