Well even the Minister for Agriculture, G.H. Mir, has admitted that the proposed third front is yet to take roots and shape in Jammu and Kashmir and as such those who are keen to have the third front taking birth in the state have decided not to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. Mir is right when he says that his Democratic Party Nationalist or the People’s Democratic Front, headed by Hakim Mohammad Yasin,have no intention of fielding their candidates for the Lok Sabha poll. Well the Lok Sabha poll is held on a larger scale.One can explain it this way.If there are six Lok Sabha constit uencies in Jammu and Kashmir there are 87 Assembly segments.And Mir is aware of the limitations of the third front or of his DPN or that of PDF and as such has wisely opted out of the Lok Sabha poll. Well Mir could have faced another odd. As a member of the council of ministers headed by Omar Abdullah,who shares power with the Congress,it was quite difficult for Mir to decide whether he should field candidates on DPN or third front tickets or announce his support to either the Congress or the NC candidates.Fielding candidates on either DPN or on third front tickets would have earned the wrath from the National Conference.
Yes,Mir has been toying with the idea of forming a third front and the CPIM leader, M.Y.Tarigami and the PDF leader,Hakim Mohammad Yasin,have been motivating him to contribute his political might for giving a definite shape to the third front. The idea has been doing the round in the state for the last about 10 years.But the idea is yet to be implemented and that too with some purpose and significance.In fact Jammu and Kashmir does not now have space for either the third front or for any new political party,that can claim to have some teeth.The political space has been already occupied by the Congress, PDP, NC, and the BJP. And whatever little space is left has been filled by the BSP,Panthers Party, Peoples' Conference, leftists and other smaller political groups. Already from those which are on the other side of the fence include Jamait-e-Islami,two factions of the Hurriyat Conference,the JKLF,Shabir Shah's Democratic Freedom Party, Nayeem Khan's Nationalist front and others. This way there is no scope left for the third front and that too when the authors of this front are the CPIM,DPN and PDF.Yes the third front,which seems to be Kashmir valley centric, can have some significance if it receives support from the two main valley centric parties,the PDP and the NC.Even support from any of the two could make the third front effective. And Mir is right when he plans to give some shape to the third front before the next Assembly election so that it could field its candidates in some Assembly segments in the state. As far as the DPN is concerned Mir is certain to field some candidates on the DPN ticket so that Mir too could be part of the Government making exercise in case the next Assembly election threw up a hung House. And it may be a wise step on the part of Mir,Yasin and Tarigami if they strengthen their party units so that they are able to register their presence in the Assembly after the next Assembly election. It is better for them to avoid wasting time,resources and energy on third front formation. |
