Early Times Report
JAMMU, Sept 21: The PDP, which is essentially Kashmir-based party and has little or no support-base in Ladakh, today made it loud and clear that it would not forge any pre-poll alliance with the BJP to contest the October 17 Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh polls. The PDP said that the party would go alone in the upcoming elections and contest only four seats in the 30-member Autonomous Hill Development Council. Six members are elected and the remaining four seats are filled by nomination.
The statement to this effect that the PDP will not enter into alliance with the BJP to contest the elections jointly was made by Peerzada Mansoor, who is Political Advisor to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti. He claimed that the PDP during its earlier regime had "ushered in an era of equitable development in all the regions of the state, including Ladakh". He also claimed that the PDP has "contributed immensely" to the developmental processes in Ladakh region and expressed hope that the people of Leh ensure the victory of all of its four candidates in the upcoming elections.
Interestingly, before the formation of the PDP, its leadership, like all other Kashmiri leaders, had opposed the creation of Autonomous Hill Development Council. It had, like others in Kashmir, said the establishment of Autonomous Hill Development Council in Leh would lead to the division of the State. However, it was the volatile situation in Ladakh which made the Narasimha Rao Government to overrule the Kashmiri opposition and conclude a truce with the Ladakhi Buddhist leadership in 1989. The Buddhists of Ladakh had been then demanding Union territory status for their region and they had created a serious law and order situation there.
The decision of the PDP to contest elections without stitching a pre-poll alliance must have up set the BJP, which only two days ago announced that the BJP and the PDP will contest the elections together. The BJP had announced that it will contest 22 seats and the PDP four and that both the parties will put in all efforts to win the election and dislodge the Congress from the Leh Council. The BJP had said that 16 were announced from the BJP side and its coalition partner in the Government, PDP, will be contesting four seats. "The BJP will ensure that the PDP as well as BJP itself registers victory on all these seats," the BJP had said.
The BJP candidates along with the constituencies included Tash Namgyal (Tangtse), Konchok Stanzin (Chushul), Dorjey Mutup (Kyungyam), Gyal P. Wangyal (Sakti), Tsering Paldan (Igoo), Dr Sonam Dawa (Thiksay), Mumtaz Hussain (Chushot), Ven. Lobzang Nyantak (UpperLeh), Dorje Angchok (Lower Leh), Sonam Norbu (Skyue-Markha), Sonam Morup (Basgo), Tsering Wangdus (Saspool), Tsering Murup (Temisgam), Lobzang Sherab (Khalsi), Punchok Stanzin (Skurbuchan) and Tsewang Gonbo (Lamayuru).
The decision of the PDP to go alone in the elections is political significant. It, on the one hand, suggests that the relations between the coalition partners are far from normal and, on the other, also suggests that a pre-poll alliance with the BJP could create in the Valley bad feelings about the PDP. There are already reports that the PDP-BJP coalition may not survive after October 3, when the State Legislature would meet for a week. The ongoing controversy over the beef issue has already created difficulties for the PDP in the Kashmir Valley, with communal elements in the Valley accusing the PDP of pursuing the RSS agenda.
In any case, the decision of the PDP suggests that the BJP made announcement that it and the PDP would contest the elections together without discussing the issue with its coalition partner. Or, it could also be considered a strategy adopted by the PDP for certain obvious reasons. The disunity between the PDP and the BJP and the fact that the NC has also decided to take the plunge in a big way only makes the task of the Congress quite easy. The division of votes would only help the Congress repeat its 2010 performance. In fact, the Congress leadership has already claimed victory. |
