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| Anticipating defeat in Jammu, Congress targets PDP | | Elections that will determine future of NC | | Neha
JAMMU, Apr 28: It was the National Conference (NC) leadership that for the first time charged the PDP with flirting with the "communal and divisive" BJP and fielding candidates in the Jammu-Poonch and Kathua-Udhampur parliamentary constituencies to mar the poll prospects of the Congress candidate - Madan Lal Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad. NC president Farooq Abdullah, NC working president and CM Omar Abdullah and who not in the NC used all available opportunities to convince the people that a vote for the PDP candidates in Jammu province would be a vote for the BJP candidates Jugal Kishore Sharma and Jitendra Singh and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as well as for communalism and abrogation of Article 370. In fact, the past more than 45 days have witnessed the NC leadership repeatedly targeting the PDP and the latter vehemently denying any kind of nexus between it and the BJP and asserting that it, like all other parties, has every right to test political waters in the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir. No one could deprive the PDP of its right to contest in any or all the three regions of the state - Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Interestingly, the Congress leadership in Jammu and Kashmir Valley subsequently also jumped on to the NC's anti-PDP bandwagon and unleashed a relentless campaign against the PDP accusing it of fielding its candidates in Jammu province to sabotage the victory chances of the Congress candidates.
Yesterday, a very senior Congress leader and Union Minister, who contested the election from the Kathua-Udhampur Lok Sabha seat also condemned the PDP and charged it with working against the Congress in this province. Saying that some political parties claiming to be "thoroughly secular" have been exposed in the present Lok Sabha elections, particularly in Jammu & Kashmir, he said the "PDP fielded its candidates in Jammu and Udhampur just to help communal forces like BJP". "Though he has no grudges against the PDP for fielding candidates in Jammu and Udhampur but their strategy of fielding candidates has directly helped BJP. Fielding candidates was the PDP's discretion. And I don't have any complaints on that. But we have a direct fight with communal BJP at national level and with all those regional parties who directly or indirectly are supporting BJP. If they were so keen to contest from Jammu and Udhampur Lok Sabha seats, what the PDP could have done was to field candidates from Jammu, Udhampur or Kathua to cut BJP votes in their respective areas…But instead they choose a candidate from Rajouri-Poonch where they had some influence for Jammu against Madan Lal Sharma and a Muslim candidate from Doda to cut Muslim votes and in support of BJP. Even Panthers Party which calls itself very secular fielded its candidates for these elections but campaigned for BJP candidates". He, inter-alia, said while talking to KNS.
What the Congress leader said was very significant. Significant in the sense that he acknowledged the PDP has the potential of upsetting the applecart of the coalition candidates in Jammu province. How else should one interpret his statement that the PDP chose a candidate from Rajouri-Poonch where they had some influence for Jammu against Madan Lal Sharma and a Muslim candidate from Doda to cut Muslim votes and in support of BJP? The meaning of what this Congress leader said was a clear as crystal and it is hardly necessary to reflect more on this.
Suffice to say the ruling coalition is not confident of its victory in Jammu province, which was considered a strong support-base of the Congress party not so-long-ago. Indeed, the political situation in Jammu & Kashmir is changing, and changing very fast. |
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