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| This was not Omar’s acumen | | | Within week of the announcement of elections to Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly, the key features of India electoral politics have started unfolding. Changing loyalties as a pre-poll scene and horse-trading as a post poll exercise are almost central to Indian political system and Jammu and Kashmir is no strange to this tradition. For past one week, disgruntled elements in all parties have been switching sides with much ease and convenience. The big shows were, however, drawn on Thursday when the National Conference admitted to party fold the erstwhile state president of Bahujan Samaj Party. Yash Pal Bhagat was expelled from the Bahujan Samaj Party when he accused party general secretary Narinder Kashyap of misappropriating his organizational position for personal gains in selection of candidates for assembly elections. There is no second opinion about the gross indiscipline which Bhagat committed by going to the press with his allegations instead of contesting them at the party level. However, in a true reflection of bankrupt system and complete lack of inner-party democracy, the Bahujan Samaj Party did not spare a minute in expelling Bhagat from the party. Within one week of all these developments the National Conference president Omar Abdullah, a young hope of politics in the state, informed the media that he has admitted Bhagat in the party fold. Not only this, Abdullah also made a quite immature and uncalled for haste of announcing Bhagat’s candidature for a constituency in Jammu district which has to go to poll in last phase of elections –December 24. That after his unceremonial expulsion from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Yash Pal Bhagat was desperate to find an honourable entry into some political party is quite understandable. But what convinced Omar Abdullah to make an inordinate haste goes beyond comprehension. With this announcement, he has shown two loopholes in his political acumen which has been otherwise rated high. Admitting an expelled leader of a political party in your organization reflected that all you need is people and not the ideology. It is not that Bhagat’s joining National Conference has been something very strange. But often change parties. But they are admitted at a certain level and are allowed to graduate before honouring them with key elements of trust. Giving party mandate, for contesting elections, to a person who has joined party the same day sends a message that loyalty, association, hard work and consultation is no criteria in the party where decision are taken at top and people are bound to abide. National Conference has bunch of aspirants in the constituency where Bhagat has been given a ticket to contest elections. What happens to them? Agreed that Bhagat has better winning prospects than the old guard but is this a message to the cadre that loyalties and ideologies have no place where head count matters.
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