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| Struggle for CM from Jammu gains momentum | | Countering the 'biased' Kashmiris | | Rustam
Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 10: It was expected that the rabidly anti-Jammu attitude adopted by the vested interests and communal forces in the Kashmir Valley in the wake of the highly fractured mandate will provoke political explosions in Jammu province and unleash forces in the province to neutralize the baneful influence of Kashmir over the state's polity and it has actually happened.
The case in point is the formation on January 9 of the Jammu Pradesh United Front (JPUF) consisting of fifteen social and political groups, including the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), which suffered a massive defeat at the hands of the resurgent BJP in the just-held assembly elections. Not a single JKNPP candidate this time could make it to the assembly. The defeat of the JKNPP might turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the neglected, marginalized, ridiculed and humiliated people of Jammu province. For, it has nothing else to do in the next six years or so except to talk about Jammu Pradesh and its people and the issues confronting them.
The formation JPUF, which will be headed by the JKNPP president, Balwant Singh Mankotia, could be considered an important political development in Jammu province, as its stated goals are three - full political empowerment of Jammu province, office of the Chief Minister for Jammu and countering the major political players in Jammu, especially the BJP, in case it, according to the JPUF, "barters" the interests of the people of Jammu province in order to share political power with anti-Jammu forces in the state.
In a way, the JPUF has been formed by the well-wishers of the people of Jammu province to strengthen the hands of the BJP, which won 25 seats out of 37 from Jammu province and became the second largest party in the assembly, which was kept under suspended animation on he Governor's Rule in the State for the sixth time in over 67 years. The PDP is superior to the BJP in terms of seats and the BJP is superior to the PDP in terms of its vote share. The PDP has won 28 seats and obtained 22.3 per cent of the total votes polled and the BJP won 25 seats and secured 23.4 per cent of the total votes polled.
That the main objective of the JPUF, which has decided to launch a relentless campaign for countering the anti-Jammu campaign in the Valley and achieving for the Jammu Pradesh the office of Chief Minister, is to strengthen the hands of the BJP could be seen from the many statements its leadership issued while launching the JPUF. Its leadership, inter-alia, said: "During the election campaign, the BJP had promised to give a Chief Minister from the Jammu region to the state so the party is duty-bound to fulfill its commitment," said the JPUF chief Mankotia, a former MLA from Udhampur constituency. "People of Jammu region have overwhelmingly voted for the BJP with a hope to get a Chief Minister from their own province. It is a historic day in the history of the state when leaders of different political parties of the state have joined hands for the people and cause of the Jammu region…There should be no compromise on the chief ministerial post. People of the Jammu region have voted for their own chief minister, abrogation of Article 370, end of dynastic rule, citizenship rights for West Pakistani refugees and continuation of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA)," the JPUF leadership further said.
"We shall act as observers and keep a strict vigil on the political situation of J&K and make sure that the people of Jammu are not betrayed again by any political party," Mankotia
It was clear from the statements of the JPUF leadership that it wanted the BJP to further the political cause of the neglected Jammu Pradesh by fulfilling the promises it held out during the election campaign. There was nothing whatever in the statements issued by the JPUF leadership which could even remotely suggest that it had not appreciated the BJP's massive victory. Of course, it did say that it will not allow the BJP to "barter" the Jammu's paramount interests, but it could not be construed as its negative attitude towards the BJP in the sense that it only urged the BJP to stick to its political agenda so that the neglected Jammu province is fully empowered and it obtained a rightful place in the state's polity, economy and society. Jammu province does need a strong regional leadership as it alone could act as a watchdog against those forces who always played the role of second fiddle and harmed the interests of their own constituencies. It is important to note that in Kashmir all or nearly all those who matter have ganged against Jammu. Had this been not the case, there would not have been the Governor's Rule in the State. |
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