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| Did PDP's Baig get NC, Cong, DPN votes? | | Shariq on sticky wicket | | Neha
JAMMU, May 9: Did former Deputy Chief Minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Baramulla-Kupwara Lok Sabha seat Muzaffar Hussain Baig get votes which were supposed to go to the National Conference (NC) candidate Sharif-ud-Din Shariq, who was seeking re-election to the Lower House of Parliament from the same constituency? Did the supporters and cadres of the Congress of Saif-ud-Din Soz, NC of Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and Democratic Party Nationalist (DPN) of Agriculture Minister and a bitter critic of Abdullah dynasty Ghulam Hassan Mir vote for the PDP candidate? What are the victory chances or otherwise of Baig? Will Shariq bite dust?
These are the four pertinent questions which those interested in the election results have started asking since May 7, when the people of Baramulla-Kupwara Lok Sabha constituency went to the polls. The questions assumed greater significance all the more in the wake of the Thursday bold statements made by senior Congress leader and Minister in the Omar Abdullah-led coalition Government Taj Mohi-ud-Din, a great supporter of the Chief Minister, and Ghulam Hassan Mir, who has repeatedly accused the Abdullah family of fooling the people of Kashmir by raking up the autonomy issue from time to time. And if one goes by what Taj and Mir said then one can conclude that Baig is in a commanding position and Shariq on a sticky wicket.
What did Taj and Mir say? Taj Mohi-ud-Din reportedly admitted that half of the NC workers and Congress supporters in Uri voted for the PDP candidate. "50 per cent of NC voters exercised their franchise in support of Baig because of his person and not because of PDP…There is a severe resentment among NC cadres against Sajad Uri son of Mohammad Shafi Uri. It has resulted into division among NC voters. Over 33 staunch NC leaders including former MLC Mohammad Aslam, two former block presidents Shafi Malik, Ali Akbar and many prominent people like Khadim Hussain and Mohammad Aslam and their followers have supported Baig in the elections. They did not leave the NC but openly supported PDP candidate…Many Congress workers also supported PDP candidate. Some of our Congress workers have voted against the party decision but that is an anti incumbency vote. By and large Congress workers supported the coalition candidate," he was quoted as saying. "Yes, there is a vertical divide in Uri," Taj also said.
Three things were clear from what he said. One was that the Uri factor worked against the NC candidate. The other was that anti-incumbency worked against him. And three, he acknowledged that many Congress workers were against the decision of the high command not to field Congress candidates in Kashmir province. Taj is an arch political foe of Mohammad Shafi Uri, NC ideologue and Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha).
As for Mir, he reportedly said: "It was difficult for him to transfer vote in NC's favour in his home constituency. During the past decade, his supporters have always stood against the NC and to make them cast their vote for NC wasn't 'a cake walk for him. Let me tell you that I worked really hard and made repeated pleas to the people to vote for the NC candidate but it is for the people to decide ultimately. I am still hopeful that we covered the ground at large," he was quoted as saying.
There was no ambiguity in what both Taj and Mir said and what they said clearly suggested that Baig not only got votes from the PDP cadres, workers and supporters, but also got a substantial chunk of votes which Shariq was to get. It was also clear from what they said that Baig enjoys support cutting across party lines. It would be a great achievement if Shariq wins the seat considering the hostility of many NC, Congress and DPN cadres and supporters. It would be a great setback for the Abdullahs if Shariq loses election to Baig, who, along with Mufti Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti, tore into Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah during the election campaign. |
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