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| Kitchloo's overnight induction intensifies polarisation, BJP likely to gain | | NC plots Cong disaster in J&K! | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Dec 22: After Kishtwar riots, induction of Kishtwar MLA Sajjad Kitchloo once again as Minister of State (MoS) for Home has not gone well with minority community of Jammu region and is likely to impact Congress vote bank in the upcoming Lok Sabha as well as Assembly elections.
The Induction which was done within few hours of Justice R.C.Gandhi submitting interim report to the General Administration Department (GAD) of Jammu and Kashmir government has jilted J&K Congress, intensified polarization across Jammu region and reduced chances of Congress performing well in the upcoming Parliamentary as well as Assembly elections. The lone beneficiary of this polarization is likely to be Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) which has been essentially banking on minority vote bank.
26 seats in Jammu region have significant as well as decisive minority vote share. Kishtwar did have serious impact on the psyche of minority community of Jammu region and after Kitchloo resigned, Congress had got the credit of forcing NC to throw Sajjad out of the State Ministry. There is belief across the spectrum that Sajjad's re-induction would allow BJP to propagate helplessness of minority community in a state dominated by a particular community, something the party has been doing across the country in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.
If reports coming from Rajouri-Poonch belt and erstwhile district Doda are any indication, BJP has already secured upper caste and OBC vote to a large extent. Such is the extent of polarization that even in a constituency like Doda; surveys indicate minority community has unilaterally decided to vote for BJP candidate Shakti Parihar in Assembly elections. Though they know that his victory is difficult but they maintain that either they would press NOTA or they would vote for BJP.
Talk about the Lok Sabha elections, surveys have pointed towards BJP getting a landslide vote share and being far ahead of other political parties. BJP has managed to `secure its historic vote bank and garner votes of schedule castes as well as people from Other Backward Classes (OBC) in both NC and Congress bastions across Jammu region. BJP largely believes that majority community vote would get trifurcated between NC, Congress and PDP.
There is belief even at the level of New Delhi Congress that National Conference (NC) has by design inducted Kitchloo back in the Council of Ministers. The reasons are obvious. They firmly believe that NC would be devastated if it goes all alone in the Lok Sabha as well as Assembly elections. This realisation has dawned on the leadership of NC and it is for this reason that it has wishes to force Congress to forge alliance for the elections so that they return to power in coalition.
By inducting Kitchloo, Omar has killed two birds with one arrow. First, he has put Congress on the backfoot and second, achieved the aim of appeasing the majority vote bank of Jammu region. Congress has to now take up the uphill task of influencing the minority vote bank of Jammu region which has been voting it to power since last one decade. They know that induction of Kitchloo has further strengthened BJP in these constituencies where it had already made substantial gains during last five years.
Kitchloo's induction has given NC edge in the majority dominated constituencies of Jammu region. Even senior Congress leaders agree in one voice that their party is likely to suffer serious reverses in Jammu region for not having resisted induction of Kitchloo in the State Cabinet. More ironically, ex-Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad attended the swearing-in ceremony of Kitchloo. None knew reasons for him joining the swearing-in but he was there to assent Kitchloo's induction.
Whether or not, Congress understands the ploy NC is a question to be asked but the fact remains that Jammu and Kashmir Congress has given its veto rights to Vice-President of Congress Rahul Gandhi and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. So till the time, Rahul is not briefed about how NC has damaged Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leaders maintain that not much is going to change.
But one thing is that Congress leaders agree across the state is that National Conference (NC) has jolted J&K Congress and intensified polarization across erstwhile District Doda by inducting Kishtwar MLA Sajjad Kitchloo back in the State Cabinet with the same portfolios which includes Home department which had been given to him prior to his resignation after the Kishtwar riots. |
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