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| NC fighting for its very survival | | Kashmir's election scene | | Neha
JAMMU, Mar 16: Gone are the days when the people of Kashmir would vote overwhelmingly for the National Conference (NC) and return it to power in the state and help it win all the three Lok Sabha seats as it happened in 2009. The NC was formed in 1938 by Sheikh Abdullah and its stated goal was to achieve segregation of Kashmir from the ruling Jammu on purely religious lines. The Kashmir's political scene has undergone a significant change over the last more than five years. It has changed to the extent that the NC leadership has raised its hands in Jammu province convinced that it would only bite dust if it enters the poll arena in this province that houses patriotic people. It is finding it extremely difficult to hold its own in the Kashmir valley, considered it pocket borough not so long ago. The fact of the matter is that the owners of the NC, including Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mustafa Kamaal, are fighting for the very survival of what they term as the premier political organization of Jammu and Kashmir.
The situation for them has climaxed to the point that NC working president and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has to tell the party leaders, including Ministers, MLAs, MLCs and district presidents, that party will give mandate only to those who ensure the victory of all the three party candidates, including Farooq Abdullah and Mehboob Beg, in the scheduled Lok Sabha elections. . "We have to stay united and work with zeal and ensure that party wins all three Lok Sabha seats. Our leaders on ground which include legislators and other leaders in districts and blocks have a bigger responsibility...They have to mobilize their vote bank in favour of party candidates. I know we have leaders who can ensure 20,000 votes for our MP candidates. This is a real battle. Lok Sabha polls should be treated as the first innings of cricket match," he reportedly said on Saturday while addressing a "closed-door" meeting of party men at party headquarters, Nawa-e-Subah, Srinagar. "Whoever performs well in the Lok Sabha elections, will get mandate in Assembly elections. We should treat the Lok Sabha as the first innings of the cricket match. Assembly elections would act as second innings and everything lies on the performance of first innings," Omar Abdullah was also quoted as saying.
What he told his party men clearly suggested that the things in Kashmir are not inspiring as far as the poll prospects of the NC are concerned and that it would be extremely difficult for the party to repeat its 2009 performance. In fact, the party's ideologue and Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather candidly admitted that the People's Democratic Party (PDP) is a potential threat and the party leadership has to put in hard work to help the party repeat its 2009 performance. "She (Mehbooba Mufti) is a potential threat as she was MP in the past," he said on Saturday while talking to a local daily. Indeed, the PDP has not only consolidated its support-base in the Valley but has also made inroads in the areas where it was quite weak in the past by dint of hard work and by exposing the NC's various acts of omission and commission and its gross misrule. During the last more than five years, the PDP leadership has worked hard to capture the political space of the NC and has been successful. It would become clear on May 16, when the Election Commission would announce the election results. It is not just the PDP that is posing a great threat to the NC. The separatists like Sajad Lone have also been working against the NC for quite some time now, especially in Srinagar district and the adjoining areas. The popularity of the PDP and the opposition to the NC from separatists like Sajad Lone have undoubtedly added to the woes of the Abdullahs. It was not for nothing that Omar Abdullah told his party men that the outcome of the 2014 general election will determine the future of the political parties in the state in general and Kashmir valley in particular. The very fact that it depends on the Congress support in Kashmir should leave none in any doubt that the NC is passing through a very critical phase. There are reasons to believe that the PDP this time will perform exceedingly well in the upcoming general election, courtesy, of course, the bungling instinct of the top NC leaders. |
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