It’s PDP versus NC in Jammu and Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Primarily, it will be People’s Democratic Party (PDP) versus National Conference (NC) in Kashmir assembly elections. Both parties are trying hard to pin each other down.

The NC is trying to drum up support for autonomy in the Valley and projecting the failures of the previous Congress-PDP government, while the PDP has reverted to its self-rule agenda.

Dual currency, demilitarisation and shared sovereignty are the PDP’s other demands.
“The centerpiece of governance under self-rule is the cross-border institution of regional council of greater Jammu and Kashmir. Plus, allowing circulation of the Pakistani rupee in Kashmir and that of the Indian rupee in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is the essence of the document,” party leader Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said.

Despite making efforts to whip up separatist sentiment, the PDP is jittery over the Amarnath land crisis. It is in a dilemma whether to field former forest minister Qazi Mohammad Afzal, who brought the memo in the cabinet, or not. Qazi, on his part, has already opened the communication lines with friend-turned-adversary Ghulam Hassan Mir, who recently formed his own party with PDP rebels.

The Congress, too, is on a sticky wicket with the BJP waiting in the wings to eat up its vote share in Jammu, where the party won 16 seats last assembly polls.

The Shri Amaranth Sangharsh Samiti (SASS), which led the two-month-long agitation in Jammu for restoration of 39.88 hectares of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, holds the key in Jammu. It will not contest the elections, but is ready to make a vote appeal in the winter capital.

“We are an apolitical organisation and will not participate in the polls. However, we will ask people to vote for parties who will fight the discrimination meted out to Jammu. We will also tell people not to vote for parties and people responsible for the Amarnath land row,” SASS convener Leela Karan Sharma said.

The Sangh Parivar affiliates are looking to capitalise on the pro-Amarnath land agitation in Jammu. The BJP won just one seat last elections, but this time, the party looks to significantly improve its margin and snatch its base in Jammu from the Congress.
Numbers game

The PDP-Congress combine, which ruled the state for five-and-a-half years before it was undone, is also facing anti-incumbency, though the state is under governor’s rule since July. The PDP, which was opposing the polls at this juncture, is in a catch-22 situation and has still not opened its cards on participating in the polls.

The NC, however, hopes to improve its tally from 24. If it fails to win majority (44), it will almost certainly form a coalition for the crown. The Congress, to which it extended support during the trust vote in parliament, may not waste a minute in supporting the NC, given its bitterness with the PDP.

Crowd-pullers
The National Conference played its ace card, projecting old war horse and former president Farooq Abdullah as its chief ministerial candidate. Abdullah had taken political sanyas after the party’s loss in 2002, but now his son Omar wants him to encash the goodwill and win the polls. Omar, who was overconfident in 2002, does not want to share the blame in case the party loses.

The BJP has roped in Shilpi Verma, wife of Kuldeep Verma who committed suicide during the Amaranth land agitation a day after Omar said in parliament they would fight for the land till the last breath. Verma had consumed poison. His death deepened the crisis in Jammu, with police trying to hush up the matter by unsuccessfully cremating his body without the family’s consent. The issue snowballed, forcing the government to shift SSP Jammu Alok Kumar. Now, Shilpi will campaign for the BJP.
h_ishfaq@dnaindia.net