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| Farooq faces uphill task in deciding in favour or against pre-poll alliance | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 4: Though National Conference has left it in the hands of party chief,Dr Farooq Abdullah,to decide whether he would opt for pre-poll alliance with the Congress or not.But in the context of the growing conflict between the two main partners in the Government in Jammu and Kashmir it is not an easy issue that has to resolved by Farooq Abdullah.
There are a number of problems that have to be taken into consideration by Farooq before he comes to any conclusion. If one asks Farooq about his choice he would,as sources close to him,say that in the interest of the survival of the state Government he would opt for total cooperation with the party that is in power in the centre.
Farooq Abdullah has a reason for being by the right side of any party that is in power in the centre.And the main reason being the incident staged by the centre in 1984 when the Congress led Government dest abilised a duly elected Government in Jammu and Kashmir.Despite majority in the state Assembly Farooq lost power when the Congress engineered defections within the National Conference.Since then Farooq has always preferred to have cordial ties with any party that is in power in the centre.And no wonder the NC was part of the ruling coalition in the centre that was led by the BJP in 1998.
This tie Farooq has to walk on a think edge of a razor because during the last five years he and his son have burnt their bridges with the BJP simply to keep the Congress,with which it has been sharing power in the state of Jammu and Kashmir since 2009,in good humour.Secondly,it is not sure of the Congress win in the next Lok Sabha election and if the NC forges pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the next Assembly poll it will mean shutting its doors for any equation with the BJP,if at all it is able to head a coalition Government in the centre.
Thirdly,Farooq Abdullah has to bear in mind the likely impact on the NC in case it contested the Assembly election in alliance with the Congress.Poll Pandits say that Congress can be a liability for the NC in the Kashmir valley.They also point out that the NC has fared better than other political parties in the 2002 and 2008 Assembly elections when it bagged between 27 and 28 seats.When it could achieve this feat when it had contested the election without any alliance with the Congress why should it seek pre-poll alliance with the Congress when it is already burdened by the antiincumbency factor ?
Fourthly,since the Congress is not interested in going to the polls in alliance with the NC,it may be uncomfortable for Farooq and his son,Omar Abdullah,if their request for a pre-poll alliance is rejected by the Congress high command.Except for Ghulam Nabi Azad rest of the leaders of consequence in the Congress are opposed to any pre-poll alliance with the NC.
By going to the polls in alliance with the NC the Congress leaders feel that they were shutting the door for possible formation of a coalition Government with the PDP.The Congress managed to win between 15 and 20 seats in the previous two Assembly elections but with this meagre tally it had the option for forming the Government with the PDP and later with the NC.Hence the Congress does not want to limit its scope for forming the Government either with the NC or with the PDP,depending on its priorities.
This way Farooq has to be quite careful while deciding in favour or against pre-poll alliance with the Congress.After the Congress better performance in the recent Hill Development Council election in Kargil Congress is in no mood to hammer out pre-poll alliance with the NC.If it is forced to opt for pre-poll alliance with the NC it will be given the shape on the terms and conditions set by the Congress. |
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