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| Trifurcation the only way out to end regional tensions | | Fractured poll verdict | | Neha
ET Report
Jammu, Jan 2: It is not that the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh didn't give a fractured verdict in the assembly elections in the past or that it was not the first occasion in 2014 when they give no full mandate to any political party. They had done so in 2002 for the first time and they did it again in 2008. It was for the third time in a row that they threw up a hung assembly, thus making the task of government formation very, very difficult. It was, in fact, the emergence of the PDP in 1999 that changed political scenario in the state in general and Kashmir in particular, where it broke the monopoly of the National Conference and emerged as one of the two major political players. Ever since then, the people of Kashmir have been giving a fractured verdict, with no sub-regional or Kashmiri party in a position to form government on its own strength.
It had happened in 2002, when the NC's 1996 tally of 57 was reduced to 28 and the PDP, which contested the Assembly election for the first time, won 16 seats -- all from the Valley -- and the Congress 20 seats - 16 from Jammu and four from the Valley. The PDP formed its first-ever government with the support of the Congress, 4-MLA Jammu-based Panthers Party and the Valley-based People's Democratic Front. The NC became the main opposition and the BJP that time was only a marginal political player as it had only one MLA in the Assembly. In 2008, the NC again won 28 seats - two from Ladakh, six from Jammu and 20 from Kashmir --, the PDP improved its tally by 5 seats and won 21 seats - two from Jammu and 19 from Kashmir --, the Congress won 17 seats - 13 from Jammu, three from Kashmir and one from Ladakh -- and the BJP improved its tally by 10 seats - all from Jammu. The Congress changed sides and the result was the formation of the NC-Congress coalition government. The task of government formation in 2002 and 2008 was not that difficult. The Congress was in a position to play its role and it played the role to its own advantage.
But the story of the 2014 Assembly elections is altogether different. In Jammu, the people have virtually voted for statehood. It's true that the BJP contested the election this time on purely developmental issues and didn't rake up any political issue, but it also cannot be denied that they voted overwhelmingly against the Kashmir domination hoping they would obtain justice that was denied to them for decades by the Kashmiri leadership, backed to the hilt by the so-called secular ruling elite in New Delhi. They didn't give enough seats to any of the three Kashmir-centric parties. The Congress, NC and the PDP shared between them only 11 out of 37 seats in Jammu - nine Muslim dominated seats and two Hindu-dominated seats. It was the BJP that took away as many as 25 seats and one BJP rebel won. The people's verdict in Jammu was clear and it indicated what the people of Jammu province wanted.
In Ladakh, where the PDP, NC and BJP failed to open their account, it was the Congress that created history by winning three out of four seats. One seat went to an independent candidate. Believe it or not, an overwhelming majority in Ladakh voted for Union Territory status. The local Congress leadership in Ladakh has a loose kind of relationship with the Congress high command and it has always behaved in a fashion that suits its interests in the region. The Congress high command, on its part, has also given almost full freedom to the Ladakh's Congress leadership. Even a number of commentators have opined that the 2014 vote in Ladakh was a vote for Union Territory status.
In Kashmir, an overwhelming majority of voters voted for the PDP, which stands for self-rule, dual currency, demilitarization, porous borders, India-Pakistan joint management and joint control. The PDP was followed by the pro-autonomy NC, which won 12 seats in Kashmir. In other words, the pro-self-rule and pro-autonomy parties in Kashmir won 37 seats out of a total of 46 seats.
It is the clear poll verdicts in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh that has for the first time in 67 years created a situation that has finally vindicated those in the state who always considered it an unnatural formation and used to assert and reassert that if the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh were to have governments of their own choice and New Delhi wanted to restore peace on a permanent basis and harmonize relations between the regions and the various communities in this part of the country, the only alternative is the state's trifurcation. So much so, even the Late President of India R Venkataraman had urged the Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to trifurcate the state to end unrest in the regions and resolve the Kashmir issue. The time has come for the policy-planners in New Delhi to appreciate the nature of poll verdict in the state and endorse the suggestion of Venkataraman. There is no other alternative available given the stand of Kashmir on the office of Chief Minister and the insistence in Jammu on a Chief Minister from Jammu. |
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