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| Changing political scenario Consensus: Congress, NC over and out | | | Rustam
JAMMU, Aug 28: Let the NC and the Congress leadership claim that their parties are very much in the reckoning and they would prove their critics wrong by winning a substantial number of seats in the upcoming Assembly elections. The NC reiterated this claim on Wednesday also.
Similarly, a number of Congress leaders claimed that their party would turn tables on the opponents in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, emerge as the single largest party and would play a very important role in the government formation.
But keen Kashmir-watchers do not consider their claims tenable or claims based on the ground realities or on the mood of the people.
There is consensus that both the NC and the Congress are down and out. It would be a great victory if the NC under the "failed" leadership of Omar Abdullah wins even 14 seats in the Kashmir Valley. At present, the NC has 28 members in the assembly. The view of the Kashmir-watchers on the Congress' poll prospects is also similar. The Congress would be pleased if it could cross the double-digit mark. In 2008, the Congress had won 17 seats - 13 in Jammu, three in Kashmir and one in Ladakh.
A very senior Kashmir-based commentator, Mohammad Sayeed Malik, on Wednesday, for example, said: "Going by the latest yardstick, it appears that the assembly elections are going to be mainly a two-horse race, between the PDP and the BJP -- probably in that order. The National Conference and the Congress stand marginalized after their recent debacle. This broad line-up itself signifies a historical political change. Predictions are hazardous, more so in the present case. Yet, the recent Lok Sabha election results point to a probable scenario: PDP will emerge with the largest number of assembly seats, followed by the BJP. NC would be lucky if it retains a half of its existing strength. Getting to the double digit mark would be an achievement for the Congress".
Very interestingly, PDP president and MP Mehbooba Mufti also expressed almost identical view. Hinting at the possible poll outcome in December, she said: "The hatred against the NC-led coalition ha created an unprecedented vacuum on the political scene of the state, which was filled up by the PDP which emerged victorious in as many as 41 assembly segments in the Lok Sabha elections. Unfortunately, the collapse of the Congress, which was the major player in some areas of Jammu and its fall at the national level created conditions for the BJP to come into the state with an agenda".
There are many Maliks who have predicted that the upcoming assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir would turn out to be a waterloo both for the NC and the Congress and the contest would be mainly between the PDP and the NC. This scribe also holds the same view and has, in fact, written to this effect in these columns a number of times. Who is to be blamed for the sorry state of affairs these two parties are in? Obviously, the leadership of these two parties. |
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