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| KPs to determine poll outcome in Jammu west, Raipur-Domana | | Crucial phase for BJP | | Masood Malik
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 12: Two Assembly constituencies in Jammu district, which will go to the polls in the last phase of election on December 20, are the constituencies where the Kashmiri Pandits could make or mar the electoral chances of the candidates seeking election to the Assembly. These are Jammu West and Raipur Domana. Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) live in these two constituencies and that party would win the election which would be able to get maximum KP votes. Actually, the KPs would determine the poll outcome of these two important constituencies.
In the 2008 Assembly election, the BJP had won both the seats hands down because the KPs voted overwhelmingly for the BJP candidates - Prof Chaman Lal Gupta and Bharat Bhushan. The Congress candidates Mangat Ram Sharma and Mula Ram had also tried their level best to enlist the support of the KPs but with no result. The Kashmiri Pandits reposed full faith in the BJP because the BJP that time fought the Assembly elections on nationalist planks. The BJP then had vehemently opposed the divisive slogans like autonomy and won 11 seats. This was the highest ever tally of the BJP.
Will the KPs again oblige the BJP by voting in the manner they voted in the 2008 Assembly elections? In the normal circumstance the answer should have been in the affirmative, but it is difficult to say today if they would vote for the BJP this time. The reason is that the KPs are not happy with the BJP. They are unhappy because the BJP has virtually accepted the demand in Kashmir that Article 370 should be made a permanent feature of the constitution. They are also unhappy because the BJP has turned pro-Kashmiriyat. The KPs hold the Kashmiriyat responsible for their persecution and exodus. They describe Kashmiriyat as a concept that stands for the exclusion of all, barring members of a particular religious sect which have been dominating the state's political scene since October 1947. Their view cannot be dismissed as preposterous. They do make a point when they reject outrightly the concept of Kashmiriyat.
What has stung the KPs all the more was the statement that was made by a BJP leader in Srinagar a few days ago and the statement had said that "Islam would further flourish in the state in case the BJP formed the government in the state". The KPs took this statement to mean promotion of the ongoing process of radicalization in the Valley.
A visit to the localities inhabited by the KPs suggests that there is no enthusiasm this time among the KPs as far as these Assembly elections are concerned. The fact of the matter is that many KP activists are urging their community members not to vote for any political party. Their opposition is more to the BJP than to other political parties and there are reasons for that. For example, they had seen in the BJP a saviour but the party left them and other nationalists in the lurch by doing a complete U-turn on its ideology.
"We would feel happy if the BJP fails to win 20 seats. The BJP is treading a dangerous path. It is worse than the Congress and other Kashmiri parties. During the last few weeks, the BJP leadership has expressed itself in favour of what the likes of Hina Bhat expressed while opposing the critics of Article 370. The BJP has turned so irresponsible that it has been insulting the nationalists in the state by hobnobbing with anti-India elements like Sajjad Lone. The KPs migrated from their homes and hearths in 1990 because the ruling elite in New Delhi that time pampered the fanatics in Kashmir. Now it is the turn of nationalists in Jammu to quit their land because the BJP is preparing ground for their exodus by dancing to the separatists' tunes. The BJP will sacrifice everyone in the state to appease the fanatics in Kashmir," said Shadi Lal, who, like many others, has been working overtime to persuade his co-religionists not to vote for any political party.
What an irony! The KPs, who by and large always stood solidly behind BJP, are today not wishing well for this party. |
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