news details |
|
|
| PDP-BJP alliance may promote regional balance | | | Though the recent Assembly election has thrown up a hung House, it has opened the doors for close cooperation between Hindus and Muslims, between people of the region of Jammu and that of the Kashmir valley. Since 1951,when the first Assembly election was held in Jammu and Kashmir,one has experienced the positive as well as the negative impact of the Kashmir centric Governments.In fact despite the claims made by successive Chief Ministers that they believed in regional parity or regional balance,the state has remained plagued by regional discrimination and mistrust.
The level of mistrust has kept on growing because the Jammuites never got a chance to head the state Government.
It could not have been possible for the political leaders from the region of Jammu to head the successive Governments because of imbalance in the distribution of Assembly constituencies.You have 46 Assembly segments in the Kashmir valley and 37 in the Jammu province and the difference of nine seats is said to be the main reason for preventing power to flow from the Kashmir valley to the Jammu region.
Except for Ghulam Nabi Azad,who hails from Bhaderwah in Jammu region was the only political leader belonging to the Jammu province,who has headed a state Government in Jammu and Kashmir. Yes,when the Government decided to implement one of the provisions of the Gajendragadkar Commission Devi Das Thakur was inducted in the Cabinet as the Deputy Chief Minister. Later on this practice was followed when Mufti Sayeed inducted Mangat Ram Sharma as the Deputy Chief Minister and Omar elevated Tara Chand to the post of Deputy Chief Minister.Now in the recent Assembly election the PDP has won 28 seats,25 from the Kashmir valley,and the BJP has won all the 25 seats from the region of Jammu.
This means that the muslim majority Valley has given a mandate to the PDP to form the Government and that the Hindu dominated Jammu region has given a mandate to the BJP for forming the Government or for sharing power with another party.The only suitable alternative left for the BJP is to share power with the PDP. The PDP too has a limited option because its alliance with the NC could increase the level of regional discrimination because both the NC and the PDP are valley centric parties.
At one time Ghulam Nabi Azad had floated the idea of forming a grand alliance among the Congress, PDP, NC, the CPI(M).And the total figure of 46 could help the grand alliance to form the Government. Again this grand alliance could not give proper representation from the region of Jammu. Against this figure of 46 the PDP-BJP alliance with the support from some independents could muster the support of 55 MLAs and in case three more independents joined the alliance the ruling BJP-PDP could have a two-third majority in the Assembly thereby enabling it to carry out some important amendments to the constitution or to some old bills.
Apart from these constitutional advantages the PDP-BJP alliance could promote regional amity and restore age-old communal brotherhood.At the time of partition people of Jammu and Kashmir and its leaders,especially the tallest political figure, Sheikh Abdullah, opted for a secular and democratic India instead of joining hands with theocratic Pakistan.
That was an example set by the people and politicians in Jammu and Kashmir. And if people in the two regions want the example of 1947 to be repeated they should motivate PDP and BJP leaders to join hands. Yes, there are inherent dangers not in the alliance but within the PDP and in the BJP.In the valley BJP continues to be treated as a communal and non-secular organization.In the region of Jammu the PDP is viewed as closer to the separatists and its ideology of self-rule was no longer music to the ears of common people in the Jammu region.
Everybody is saying that the PDP may witness major erosion in its vote bank in the valley if it joined hands with the BJP.But nobody talks about the possible erosion in the vote bank of the BJP if its forged an alliance with the PDP. The only way to silence the mouth of the rumour mongers is to seal and understanding between the BJP and the PDP and form a coalition Government even if the two agreed to work under a common minimum programme.Their main task should be to promote development in Jammu and Kashmir. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
