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| Cong to encourage formation of third front, to become its ally later | | Cong aiming at forming next government sans PDP | | Early Times Special Correspondent
Jammu | May 7
News Analysis
There has been general impression that the BJP led NDA government in the Centre propped up Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his then newly floated political formulation, PDP, to checkmate the clout of National Conference, whose adamancy on the demand for greater autonomy was a cause of anxiety---coupled with non seriousness of Farooq Abdullah in running the administration, his occasional off the cuff remarks and hence failure to politically meet the challenge of secessionists and terrorists. A psychological atmosphere was built by the Central agencies as well as at the political level by the Central government, to project Mufti Sayeed as the future hope of Kashmir in the scenario of growing alienation of the Kashmiris from the national mainstream. All this resulted in defeat of the National Conference in the 2002 assembly elections, with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his PDP posing a serious challenge to the kashmir's oldest regional formulation.
Taking cue from the strategy adopted by the NDA before 2002 elections, the Congress led UPA government and the Congress party in the Centre and in the state are now working on a grand strategy to get rid of the nuisance of PDP, which is proving a big headache for the Congress, the Central government as well as the nation as a whole, in view of PDP's adventurous slogans, which virtually challenge the concept of Indian sovereignty over Jammu and Kashmir. In this context the meeting of Ghulam Hassan Mir, one of the founder members of PDP who has lately raised a banner of revolt against Mufti Sayeed and his daughter and has floated a new political party and is working hard to form a third regional force by bringing together all the small political groups opposed to both National Conference and PDP, with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at New Delhi recently, has much more than what meets the eye.
There are strong indications that Congress is preparing for forming the next government in Jammu and Kashmir on its own, with the help of some splinter groups from the PDP as well as some other small parties, including Peoples Democratic Forum of Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen and even M Y Tarigami's state unit of CPIM as well as CPI. As the elections to the state assembly come closer there are going to be desertion by more leaders from the PDP, who after fighting the elections either under the banner of Ghulam Hassan Mir's third front or as independents, in case they win, will support the government to be formed by the Congress minus PDP. The Congress is working towards mopping up a simple majority in the upcoming assembly elections to form the new government in the state on it own, with the support of some small groups and few independents who are expected to get elected.
There are clear cut indications that lately another PDP stalwart and a founder member of the party, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, who is the Deputy Chief Minister in the Azad led government, is distancing himself from the PDP and is getting inclined towards the Congress, having built close rapport with the party high command in the Centre. Besides Muzaffar Hussain Baig's silence over the party's ante for shared sovereignty and joint control of India and Pakistan over Kashmir as well as dual currency, Baig's dig at those who are selling imaginary dreams, which endorses the observations made earlier by the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad cautioning people against those who are drawing imaginary scenario before the people, is read by the observers as giving insight into the latest thinking by Muzaffar Hussain Baig and his common wave length with Azad.
Still another leader about whom there are speculations of deserting the PDP either before the elections or after the elections after getting elected to the state assembly, is Dilawar Mir, who earlier had left the NC to join PDP for greener postures. Dilawar Mir is believed to be quite close to Ghulam Hassan Mir and the latter, it is believed, was instrumental in Dilawar Mir switching over loyalty from NC to PDP. The Congress, in the meanwhile is playing its cards very calculatedly and skillfully. While keeping the PDP in good humour till the time of elections, it is working secretly to pull the rugs under the feet of PDP by engineering dissentions within the party. The poaching of a former Congress leader from Poonch, Yash Pal Sharma by the PDP, has provided an alibi to the Congress to poach dissidents in the PDP, either by admitting them in the party or encouraging them to join the third front being formed by Ghulam Hassan Mir.
The Congress is hoping to win about 25 seats from Jammu region as well as improved its tally from Kashmir valley and Ladakh to about ten. With a total strength of 35 MLAs, returned on its tickets, the Congress is quite hopeful that it can garner support of at least 10 MLAs of small groups, to cobble a simple majority to form the next government. It is in this background that the change of stance by the Pradesh Congress President Saif-Ud-Din Soz is to be read. Soz who earlier was in favour of Congress and PDP fighting lections in alliance and forming the next coalition government, as he is on record to have asserted that the Congress—PDP alliance will run beyond the present term of the state assembly, after the visit of Sonia Gandhi to Jammu where she threw ample hint of Congress aiming at forming the next government on its own, has also been talking in the same vein. |
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