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| Omar harps on Kashmir issue to woo voters | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 14: With election season drawing near the National Conference leadership keeps on raking up the Kashmir issue in one form or the other. At one stage Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah offered to quit power in favour of the PDP if it came forward with a "certain and categorical solution" to the Kashmir issue. He was specific in his offer as he told the PDP in clear terms "you (PDP) have 21 Assembly members, I will provide you the support of 28 MLAs of the National Conference and with 50 seats let you settle the issue."
And his close associates in the National Conference keep on pinching hard the PDP by making people believe a secret nexus between the BJP and the PDP. On other occasions these associates of Omar Abdullah have been trying to convince people that the PDP had been floated by the BJP. They keep on telling people that PDP is the "B" team of the BJP.
They do as others did with Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party, that won 28 Assembly seats in Delhi recently. The BJP used to dub the AAP as the "B" team of the Congress and the Congress treated AAP as a wing of the BJP. Both were wrong. The AAP was a "B" team of neither the Congress nor of the BJP. It was the result of peoples' anger against the establishment and against the traditional political parties.
And now Omar Abdullah has come up with a theory that has been enunciated by Kashmiri separatists for the last over four decades. The Chief Minister has ruled out any relation between polls and greater political problems of the State. He has said that contesting the elections will not lead to the resolution of all political issues confronting Jammu and Kashmir.
And if the NC fought the 2008 elections for addressing development issues and day to day problems of people of the State it has plans of contesting the next Assembly poll to secure internal autonomy and financial self-reliance for the state.
This way Omar Abdullah is specific in his plan of contesting the next Assembly election. Instead of playing development card he is trying to play internal autonomy and financial self-reliance issue. He does so because he, in particular and the Government, he has been leading since 2008, in general have nothing in its pocket for playing the development card.
And the NC leadership knows better than any other political party that if the ruling party faced any serious challenge in the next Assembly poll it is only from the PDP. Hence Omar Abdullah is trying to play the Kashmir card, by raking up the accession issue, claiming that the state had not merged with India but acceded to it. He wants Indo-Pak dialogue process to be resumed for settling the Kashmir issue. He wants Delhi-separatists talks to be resumed. All this is being done to woo voters in the Kashmir valley where the PDP is ahead of the NC.
The NC leadership believes that by trying to show the PDP being a "B" team of the BJP it could increase vulnerability of the Muftis during the election battle in the Valley. But the NC leadership does not know that BJP is no longer treated as an untouchable political creature in the Valley which is evident by the way the BJP unit in the Valley has been able to keep its shop open without any problem. In addition to this majority of people, including the separatists, know that the Muftis have been closer to the Congress than to any other party.
If the NC shook hands with the BJP led NDA Government in the Centre 12 years ago the PDP has branched from the Congress. And if it has, in the past, shown any link with the Jammu centric political party it has been the Panthers Party, which is more secular than any other Jammu based party.
Political parties try to fight anti-incumbency factor by playing the development card but the NC believes in fighting the anti-incumbency factor by baiting or teasing the PDP. And the Muftis do not wish to react because their aim is to woo voters in the name of good governance the PDP led ruling coalition gave to people for about three years, between 2002 and 2005. And if the NC leadership believes that everything is fair in love and poll battle the PDP leadership believes in fair dealing. For both the NC and the PDP the field is yet open. Which side will win? It is too early to predict. |
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