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| Will BJP MLAs abstain from upcoming LC elections? | | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Feb 16: Elections to 8 Legislative Council seats will be held on March 7. The Congress and the National Conference (NC) are in the process of finalizing the names of the coalition candidates. Hectic lobbying is also going on in Srinagar, Jammu and New Delhi. The coalition can win 5 to 6 seats without any difficulty as the composition of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly is such. The main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), which has in the Assembly 20 MLAs, is sure to capture one seat without any difficulty. It would try to capture another with the support of the Panthers Party (JKNPP), which has three MLAs. However, it would not be easy for the PDP to capture more than one seat. It could win one more seat provided it is able to enlist the support of 11 BJP MLAs, including 7 who were expelled from the party months ago on the ground that they violated the party whip and voted for the NC-Congress candidates in the April 2011 Legislative Council elections, and other independent MLAs. It is difficult to say at the moment if the PDP would be able to enlist the support of all the non-Congress and non-NC MLAs. It can enlist the support of the JKNPP. There is no doubt about it. For, both the parties have supported each other in the past. Besides, the relations between these two parties are more than cordial, notwithstanding some serious ideological differences of the JKNPP with the PDP. In fact, it has already become clear the both the parties would work in unison to defear thr coalition candidates.
The real problem is for the 4 BJP MLAs, who apparently cannot vote either for the coalition candidates or for the PDP candidates because the BJP stands already condemned in Jammu province for the role some of the BJP MLAs played in the 2009 Legislative Council elections. In 2009, a couple of BJP MLAs had crossed voted and there was an allegation that they voted for the coalition candidates, especially the NC candidate. The then BJP state president had promised action against the black sheep but nothing of this sort happened.
The 4 BJP MLAs will think hundred times before taking part in an election in which they have no stake. They may decide to abstain from the elections to help improve the party image. In case they finally decide to take part in the election, they will be either voting for the coalition candidate or for the PDP candidates. In other words, they would vote for parties whose ideology the BJP publicly denounces as pro-separatist. Will they take such a risk at a time when there is the possibility of the general elections and elections to the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly taking place anytime after the budget session and when the BJP has lost its credibility?
As for the remaining 7 expelled BJP MLAs, who according to the Speaker's ruling continue to be BJP MLAs and who are not bound by the party discipline as the official BJP cannot issue a whip asking them to vote in one direction, they are free to vote for any political party at their own peril. There are MLAs in this group of seven who have very soft approach towards the NC. In case all the 11 MLAS, including the official and expelled, decide to take part in the upcoming council elections and in case there is cross voting, it is obvious that the official group would accuse the expelled MLAs of voting for the coalition or the PDP candidates and the vice-versa. It is an additional factor that could make the official BJP decide to abstain. In any case, things would become clear in a couple of days. |
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