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| Congress mulling alliance with JKNPP, BSP? | | Jammu's political scene | | Rustam
JAMMU, July 31: Convinced that the prevailing political environment in Jammu province is hostile towards the Congress, a section of important local Congress leadership is, according to sources close it, is toying with the idea of forging a pre-poll alliance with the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Sources informed that this section of Congress leadership has come to believe that the "party would be completely routed in the coming Assembly elections in case it goes alone to the crucial polls" and that "if the Congress is to win some seats and play important role in the formation of the next Government in the state, it has no other alternative left except to forge a pre-poll alliance with the JKNPP and the BSP".
The Congress, which contested three Lok Sabha seats in Jammu province and Ladakh region in alliance with its coalition partner NC, lost all the three to the BJP candidates. Its defeat was ignominious all the more because the NC transferred some of its votes to the Congress candidates in both the regions. The Congress could get only a little more than 20 per cent of the total votes polled. Its vote share was almost equal to that of the PDP, which also won three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir, and almost 12 per cent less as compared with the BJP. The BJP emerged as the largest party in the state in terms of vote share. Very significantly, the NC got only 11.1 per cent of the total votes polled and these votes also included some Congress votes. The view of the Congress leadership that a pre-poll alliance with the JKNPP and the BSP is a must is well-founded. The Congress cannot win on its own even half a dozen seats in Jammu province. It has become so unpopular. Besides, the wounded NC would do all that it could to teach the Congress party a lesson. It would surely sabotage its efforts. It is important to note that the decision of the Congress to go to the polls alone has not gone down well with the NC leadership, especially the owners of the party Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, notwithstanding the claim of Omar Abdullah that it was he who rejected the idea of pre-poll alliance. They had tried their best to forge pre-poll alliance with the Congress, but the latter turned down the offer and decided to go alone under pressure from the party workers at the grassroots level. The Abdullahs and their supporters have not forgotten the manner in which the Congress abandoned them and forced the NC to fend for itself. The Congress leadership is fully aware of what the NC could do to mar its electoral chances. Hence, a pragmatic section of the Congress leadership has been toying with the idea of mulling a pre-poll alliance with the JKNPP and the BSP.
The JKNPP has support-base in four to five constituencies, including Samba, Vijaypur, Udhampur, Ram Nagar and Chenani. As for the BSP, it has not clicked after 1996. In 1996, it won four seats, but the party MLAs bungled. They flirted with NC for personal gains and in the process lost their face. In 2002, Manjit Singh did win the election on the BSP ticket, but he bartered the party's interests by joining the coalition Government. He was then close to the PDP. Right now, he is in the Congress party. However, it is a fact that the Scheduled Caste communities can make or mar the electoral chances of political parties in about 20 constituencies. It will be seen if the Congress succeeds in roping in the JKNPP, BSP and the SC communities. Significantly, the JKNPP has always holding discussions with the BJP. It is difficult to say at this point in time what these ongoing negotiations culminate in. |
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