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Decoded: Why political parties are struggling to release manifestos in Jammu and Kashmir

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J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah waves to supporters at a rally at Beerwah, Budgam on Thursday
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With just five days remaining for the first phase of polls, all the major political parties are struggling to release their manifestos in Jammu and Kashmir.

Why are not political parties issuing their manifestos?
Political parties are trying to steer clear of controversies before the first vote is cast. With focus shifting on the sensitive issues like article 370, self rule and autonomy, the parties want their rivals to bell the cat first before making their stance public on the controversial issues.

Why is BJP shying away from releasing manifesto when it has embarked on an ambitious Mission 44 to form government in J&K?
BJP, which has a strong opinion on the article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has decided to first release "Aroop Patr" (charge sheet) against the Omar Abdullah government before releasing the manifesto. "We will be first releasing the Aroop Patr that contains a list of
failures of state government. It will also focus on the loopholes of the Omar Abdullah led government," said Khalid Jahangir, BJP spokesman for Kashmir.

Will article 370 state a comeback in BJP manifesto?
BJP is currently busy deliberating on the issues to be incorporated in the manifesto. Party insiders said putting article 370 in the manifesto is proving tricky as it could antagonise potential Muslim
voters in the state. "We hope to finalise the manifesto and will release soon," said a BJP leader.

If BJP is in dilemma, what is the hitch for Omar Abdullah's National Conference (NC) not to release its manifesto?
NC seems not to be confident of releasing the manifesto given that they have not been proactive about their autonomy proposals in their six years of rule. "It is being finalised and will be released in few
days. Our stand on every political issue like autonomy and article 370 remains unchanged," said Junaid Mattu, NC spokesman.

Why is main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) too shying away from the manifesto?
PDP which is fancying a chance to form the next government is not pro-actively harping on its self rule issue. Instead the party is banking on misrule of Omar government, the paradigm shift in their
strategy. "It is not late. We have already announced our programmes and plans. Election manifesto is just a paper. For the first few weeks we have been telling people in rallies about our plans and agenda. People know about our election manifesto. We will be issuing it few days definitely"., said Nayeema Ahmad Mehjoor, media in charge of PDP

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