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| Inconsistent Panthers can't inspire people | | Statehood for Jammu | | Rustam
JAMMU, July 14: The Panthers, like the NC and Congress leaders, are also a frustrated and desperate lot. The Panthers are frustrated because they see in the BJP a potential threat to their electoral chances even in the constituencies they at present represent in the assembly, namely Samba, Udhampur and Ramnagar. In fact, the Panthers, like Omar Abdullah and many others, are struggling for survival and if the present mood of the people in Jammu province is an indication, then it can be said that the Panthers are passing through a very critical phase.
It needs to be underlined that in the just-held Lok Sabha election, Bhim Singh got only 4,483 votes in the Udhampur assembly constituency, as against the BJP's vote tally of 49,623 and that of the Congress's 19,429 votes. Balwant Singh Mankotia has been representing this constituency since 2002.
Similarly, in the Ramnagar assembly constituency, which Harsh Dev Singh has been representing since 2002, Bhim Singh got only 10, 805 votes.
On the other hand, the BJP garnered 33,588 votes and the Congress got 18,407 votes. The story of the Panthers in the Samba assembly segment was no different. The party candidate, HC Jhelmeria got a paltry 985 votes. The BJP and the Congress, on the other hand, got 36,879 and 13,331 votes, respectively.
The Panthers are themselves responsible for the trouble they are in.
They never behaved consistently. In fact, they never meant what they from time to time said. Besides, they were a confused lot.
Had they behaved consistently and pursued the line it adopted on the day they founded their party decades ago, they would have by now become a force to reckon with in Jammu province. But it was not to be. Inconsistent and confused as they were and are, they frittered away all the chances that came their way. They tried to kill many birds with one stone and also hobnobbed with those whom the people of Jammu province didn't like.
They tried to project themselves as Jammu-centric and, at the same time, flirted with Kashmiri and Pakistani leadership. It's no wonder that they have become almost irrelevant with the people not really reposing their confidence in the party.
That the Panthers were never clear about what they would say from time to time could be seen from the fact that they avoided using the word statehood for years and, at the same time, advocated reorganization of the state and demanded separate Chief Minister and separate assembly for Jammu.
You cannot have three chief ministers and three assemblies in one state. It was not even committed to its reorganization demand in the sense that it did nothing whatever to achieve it. At best, the Panthers issued a few statements, held a few press conferences and organized a few unimpressive dharnas.
On July 6, the Panthers discarded the reorganization slogan and adopted statehood for Jammu as its goal. That day, the Panthers held a convention in Jammu to discuss the prevailing political situation in the state and their poll prospects and after some deliberations decided to demand statehood for Jammu believing such a slogan might click and help them garner some votes.
They also organized protests at Vijaypur and Udhampur after July 6 to highlight their demands and further their statehood agenda.
The Panthers feel that the statehood slogan might help them neutralize the growing influence of the BJP in Jammu province. It would be seen if the Panthers are able to influence the people of Jammu province in general and Udhampur, Ramnagar and Samba in particular with the statehood slogan. |
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