Neha
JAMMU, Mar 10: NC working president and J&K CM Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that he would prefer the ragtag Third Front in the event of the Congress-led UPA forming the next government at the centre in May. He said his preference would be the UPA as it suits J&K, but virtually overruled the possibility of the UPA coming back to power. At the same time, he said that the BJP-led government at the centre will not be in the interest of the state. "The UPA led government (will be) an ideal situation for J&K...The BJP led government at the Centre will not be in the interests of the State...In case the Congress fails to form the next government at the Centre, he will prefer joining a Third Front supported by the Congress rather than joining BJP led government,"said while talking to a news agency.
"The worst option for his party to support is the BJP led government; because it is completely an untested entity. Had BJP nominated Atal Behrai Vajpayee or L.K Advani as its prime ministerial candidates, it was still worth to pay a heed. But you know nothing about BJP's present prime ministerial candidate Narindera Modi except for what he says about Gujarat. We even don't know what is happening in Gujarat.
So it is an untested force. Let us see," he was also quoted as saying. The reasons behind the support of Omar Abdullah to the Congress and the so-called Third Front are quite understandable. For, the Congress and the constituents of the Third Front, including the CPI, the CPI-M, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Janata Dal united (JDU), unlike the BJP, subscribe to the ideology which is similar to that of the NC. For example, these outfits, like the NC and unlike the BJP, want the divisive, anti-people, anti-democratic, anti-minorities Article 370, which also creates doubts in the minds of the international community about the political status of J&K State. Not just this, these parties, like the NC and unlike the BJP, do not consider the people of Jammu province and Ladakh region, a factor in the state's political situation; they consider Kashmir and a section of the Kashmiri people, which has been at the helm of affairs since October 1947, the only factors in the state, which needed to be considered and appreciated. The fact is that all these parties, like the NC and unlike, pander to communalists and separatists. They, without any exception, pursue appeasement policy and virtually humiliate the majority community almost on a daily basis.
It is a different chapter that these parties, like the NC and unlike theBJP, term them as "secular, democratic and pro-people". These are some of the reasons which motivate Omar Abdullah to join or hobnob with the Congress and similar other outfits. He feels that these parties, unlike the BJP, could help the NC and other Kashmir-based outfits to achieve their ultimate objective: greater autonomy or limited accession with India. It is important to note that the BJP hates and despises the ideology of these so-called secular outfits, considers Article 370 the mother of all ills faxing the state and its people, especially the people of Jammu province and Ladakh region, wants parity between all the three regions at all levels, advocates citizenship rights for the refugees from West Pakistan and considers the existing politico-constitutional, administrative and economic structure Valley-centric.
One thing is clear: Neither the Congress-led UPA nor the so-called Third front that consists of self-seekers and over-ambitious politicians and has no India and nation-centric agenda will not form the next government at centre. Omar Abdullah would be a disillusioned and broken-hearted politician after May 16, when the Election Commission of India will announce election results. |
