news details |
|
|
| NC facing toughest race of all times | | | Mustansir
SRINAGAR, May 7: Just as the Gandhis appear to be negotiating a new ebb in fortunes, the Lok Sabha polls could well presage a spell in political exile for Abdullah's in Kashmir. "The Abdullahs have had more than their share of power; don't be surprised if the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls sets the mood for the Assembly verdict" Ghulam Nabi Reshi, a fruit merchant from North Kashmir told Early Times.
The Abdullahs, according to political watchers are facing their toughest race, so close that many believe the Abdullah family could be tripped at the tape for the first time in the political history of J&K.
Observers believe that if senior Abdullah loses Srinagar, which he is actually losing, the siege is set to gather close on the reign of his son and Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah. As their initial trend suggest that NC is in trouble in North Kashmir also as the cry for "change" was loud and clear, the time for political exile of Abdullah family is not far.
"Ask the people of Kupwara, it will be clear to you the tide has turned against Abdullahs, you cannot take people for granted all the time," Abdul Rahim Bhat of Drobgam, Kupwara said. Intimation of the PDP "invasion" has flowed from other old NC bastions in Kupwara - from Kupwara, Handwara, Karnah lorded by the Mir Saifullah, Choudhary Ramzan, Kafeel u Rehman who have long held sway.
These are constituencies that gave the NC the lead in earlier Parliamentary elections. But the PDP's inroads in these areas could work to neutralise the advantage the NC has held in the past. "The young, especially, are not happy with Abdullah dynasty that have been around a while. They want change; they are seeking a more level relationship with their leaders," Mohammad Hussain of Handwara said.
"If the PDP does well in this and the coming Assembly elections, it will merely be the collateral beneficiary of this yearning for change, for doing away with a family that in the public mind behaves as if it has divine ruling rights. The current political mood is not so much about the PDP gaining ground as it is about sentiment turning averse to the Abdullahs" Husain said.
As a relative lightweight like Tariq Karra has shivered Farooq Abdullah's quest to retain Srinagar, the heavyweight Muzaffer Hussain Baigh has really frustrated the grand Abdullahs in Baramulla |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
