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| Outcome of LC elections to change State's political scene | | | Neha
JAMMU, Dec 3: Today is the D-day. The otherwise humiliated and unprotected panchs and sarpanchs will go to the polls and elect four members to the Legislative Council, a body which costs the state exchequer millions of rupees annually and in which those close to the ruling class are accommodated. These are the reserved seats and only panchs and sarpanchs and similar other people's representatives at the grassroots level are entitled to vote. The outcome of the elections will certainly change the state's political scene to an extent and indicate who is popular and who is not. That's the reason the ruling coalition comprising the National Conference and the Cong-ress put in all to tilt the balance in its favour and the opposition parties, especially the People's De-mocratic Party, also put in its all to win over the electorate consisting of around 33,000 panchs and sarpa-nchs. Indeed, it was an intense and bitter election campaign.
In Kashmir the real fight is between the ruling coalition and the People's Democratic Party. The PDP had been accusing the ruling coalition of misusing the official machinery and violating the model code of conduct since the day the election campaign started. Signifi-cantly, the National Confe-rence, whose support-base has drastically shrunk over the period for reasons not really difficult to fathom and which has been urging the Congress high command to forge pre-poll alliance so that the National Conference and the Congress could defeat the People's Democratic Party and win the 2014 Assembly elections, also accused the main opposition party in the Assembly of using unfair means to win over the confidence of voters, especially female voters.
Everyone knows that Chief Minister Omar Abd-ullah, who has become the staunchest votary of pre-poll alliance, had charged the People's Democratic Party with distributing make-up kits - charge that provoked a sort of furore among the female panchs and sarpanchs in the Kashmir valley. In fact, hundreds of female pan-chs and sarpanchs organized demonstrations at number of places, including Ganderbal, the Chief Minister's constituency, to register their protest agai-nst the Omar Abdullah's "unfounded" charge. They lambasted the Chief Minister saying he had disgraced and insulted women. The manner in which the Chief Minister leveled the charge clearly indicated his frustration as well as lack of confidence. It will be seen who ultimately wins in Kashmir. The defeat of even one coalition candidate at the hands of the People's Democratic Party will be considered as a spectacular victory of the party of the Muftis.
In Jammu Pradesh, the political scene is quite hazy. The ruling coalition and all the opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party and the People's Democratic Party, all tried their best to woo the voters. It can be said that the coalition candidates were in an advantageous position considering the fact that everything was at their back and call, notwithstanding the fact that the local Congress and National leadership doesn't see eye to eye with each other. The other advantage was the lack of unity among the opposition parties. All the three opposition parties campaigned in their own way and separately, thus making the job of the ruling coalition somewhat easy. It would be the biggest defeat of the ruling coalition in case it loses even one seat in Jammu Pradesh. Any way, picture would clear the moment election results are out.
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