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| Development no issue in J&K polls | | | ANSH GUPTA
Jammu, Dec 9: The BJP emerged victorious in the Assembly poll in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states on the slogan of development. The Congress won Delhi on the plank of development. The BJP lost in Rajasthan on account of poor performance. If this is the yardstick for measuring the voters' choice will the electorates in Jammu and Kashmir follow the voters in other five states ?This question has assumed significance after the election results clearly demonstrated that voters were guided by the performance of the ruling parties. Neither the recent terror strike in Mumbai nor the economic recession coupled with unprecedented inflation rate influenced the choice of voters. The BJP leadership had pinned its hopes on inflation, terror strike and recession but voters had different opinion.
Will Gulam Nabi Azad be able to woo the voters to the side of the Congress which has been claiming to have carried out development activities in Jammu and Kashmir on a massive scale during the last three years. Well voters have shown their support for a leader or for a political party that has been successful in changing the economic scenario in the state. Couple of years ago Gujarat Chief Minister, Narender Modi, had received more brickbats than bouquets for his dubious role in the communal riots that had gripped Gujarat more ferociously than the floods. And when Gujarat went to polls Modi again swept the BJP to power. It was all the result of marked transformation he had brought in industrial, agricultural and others sectors. So Gujarat set the trend and it was emulated by the voters in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. It is the development cards that enabled the Congress led by Sheila Dikshit to score a hat trick in Delhi.
But the history of Jammu and Kashmir has been different from the emerging trends in other Indian states. Usually trends and waves do not cross the Lakhanpur border barrier. In 1977 the entire country was swept by the pro-Janata Party wave. This wave remained slightly absent in the Jammu region. It failed the cross over the Pir Panjal mountain range to enter the Kashmir valley. If the Congress did well in Delhi and Rajasthan it was also the result of absence of regional parties having roots. The case was similar to the one witnessed in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The State of Jammu and Kashmir has two regional parties, the National Conference and the PDP, that have strong roots. The two have strong bases in the valley and in some pockets of Doda, Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur districts. Even the Panthers Party has roots as a regional organization.
These regional organisations have been banking on the ant incumbency factor. This way the development slogan of the Congress may not allow it to win absolute majority in the 87-member Assembly. The Congress could win absolute majority in Delhi, Rajasthan and Mizoram because development assisted it in Delhi. Poor performance of the BJP in Rajasthan and bad governance of the Mizo National Front in Mizoram. There is no doubt that the Azad led Government did better than other Governments in Jammu and Kashmir. But the issues in Jammu and Kashmir are different from the one in Delhi, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. |
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