PDP and BJP, two parties with largest number of seats in the Legislative Assembly, took quite some time to debate with seriousness the conditions that would form the basis for their alliance as ruling partners. Called Common Minimum Programme, it forms the basis for the coalition Government.
Coalition Governments have become part of our democratic system and the days of any one political party obtaining landslide majority seems a remote possibility except in fringe cases. The people of this country, therefore, have to put up with the coalition culture. If the partners are seriously interested in the development of the country and the states that form the Union, then coalition system is definitely a great testing event for both. It tests the patience and shrewdness with which they will carry forward the affairs of the state.
About PDP-BJP coalition in J&K State, there are some unique specifications not normally seen elsewhere in the country. In ideological terms, the two parties stand at opposite poles. There is no previous history of relationship or interaction between the two parties. Moreover, it is coalition between a regional and a national party, the latter being in power at the centre.
The main areas in which two parties hang on to conflicting perceptions are broadly (a) dynamics of response to militancy, (b) status of ‘disturbed areas’ and AFSPA, (c) Indo-Pak bilateral talks, (d) repatriation of militants (e) return and rehabilitation of internally displaced Kashmiri Pandits in the valley. However, in the areas of development of the State, building of infrastructure, employment opportunities of youth, expansion of education, health care and public services, eradication of corruption and introduction of good governance, and strengthening of democratic and secular structure of the State etc. there are no differences. Rather there is more than expected synchronization between the two sides in these areas.
Evidently, CMP addresses these concerns. Now that the coalition Government is in place, the next step is to bring out covert and overt potential of the alliance and translate it from theory to practice. This will put the two sides on a test whether they are capable of handling the situations deftly and steering the state safely to destination points. Leaving aside for a while the convolution of political dispute over J&K between India and Pakistan, what makes the two ideologically dissonant sides to converge on common minimum programme is their deep interest in restoration of peace and tranquility in the State and ushering in an era of all round development of three regions of the State. This is a new experience indeed.
A heavy task awaits the coalition Government. The right methodology of addressing the tasks is first to have clear and unambiguous concept of what to do and how to do. It indirectly means to shun angularities and postures adopted during past decades when there were only demands and no responsibilities. Now that responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of the coalition, they have to be realistic. The dynamics of futuristic vision will necessitate synchronizing new thinking and new approach.
The meeting that Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed recently had with the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister and the comments that have appeared in the press about these parleys, have to be seen through the prism of coalition paradigms stated above. From what has trickled down in the print media, one can deduce great political maturity and astute diplomacy guiding the process of making decisions at highest levels. Prime Minister’s commitment of meeting the requirements of the State as projected by the Chief Minister is a proof of his eagerness to uphold the sanctity of CMP.
Union Government knows well that Mufti Sayeed is shouldering difficult responsibilities of providing good governance to the State. He has to fight at not one but many fronts at home. The Centre has to provide him space, incentive and road map to move forward along the path of reconciliation and reconstruction in the State. He has short term and long-term obligations and he is to be provided with wherewithal to meet these without grudge. His commitment to the Union Home Minister that he would identify land for composite resettlement of displaced Kashmiri Pandits has met with strong and sharp reaction from the opposition not only in the State Assembly but in the Parliament also. The opposition to the idea explodes the bottom of the falsehood and canard floated by certain quarters for last two decades that it was “sympathetic to the case of the migrants”. This is by way of example to show the thorn-strewn path along which Mufti Sayeed will have to walk while leading the State to an era of development and prosperity. Actually, the alliance has great potential and leadership will need courage and perseverance to utilize it to the full.
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