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| Choice before people of Jammu rather limited | | Regional Outfit The Only Option | | early times report
JAMMU, June 22: A number of political parties are operating in Jammu, but most of them are basically Kashmir-centric. These include parties like the National Conference, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Congress and the BJP. The NC has never minced words. The NC has all along sought to persuade New Delhi to overlook the aspirations and needs of Jammu and Ladakh and undertake steps that only satisfy it and a few constituencies it represent in Kashmir. The NC doesn't care for half a dozen assembly constituencies where it has some presence and these constituencies also include three Muslim-majority constituencies, located in Poonch, Rajouri and Kishtwar districts (Jammu province). The CPI-M, like the NC, is also an essentially Kashmir-centric party and its ideology is also like the NC. The support-base of the CPI-M is rather limited. It is basically confined to Kulgam. Kulgam assembly constituency is the only constituency in the state which is being represented by the CPI-M.
The Congress and the BJP do contest elections in Jammu Province in the name of its people, but they forget the promises they solemnly make after the elections are over. The Congress even shares power with those who, like New Delhi, are squarely responsible for the neglect, extreme backwardness and under-development of Jammu province. The woes and miseries of the people of Jammu province do not move them. They are so inhuman. In fact, the Congress leadership has been adding more to the woes and sufferings of the people of Jammu province by allowing the Kashmir-based outfits to exercise unbridled powers and take decisions which are out-and-out Kashmir-centric.
There is a view that the Congress has caused more harm to Jammu province and it appears to be a correct view. One can catalogue here several instances to show that whatever the Kashmiri leadership did in the state after November 2005 it did it with the full backing of the Congress party. The Congress has shared power with he Kashmiri leadership a couple of times before 1990 and it has been sharing power with the Kashmiri leadership since 2002, when the people of the state inflicted a crushing defeat on the NC. In 1996 the NC had won two-thirds majority and in 2002 it could win only 28 seats. The PDP gained in Kashmir at the cost of the NC.
The story of the BJP is no different. Some of its leaders do hobnob with the Kashmir-based political parties. They even cross-vote to ensure the victory of those in Kashmir who are known for their bias towards Jammu province. The BJP does make from time to time some Jammu-specific statements, but these are no more than hollow statements. One may try his/her level best to find if the BJP has during the past 14 years achieved anything for Jammu province, he/she would come out of this exercise minus everything. On the other hand, he/she would come to know that the BJP has actually worked against Jammu province. He/she would - apart from referring to several other unpardonable sins committed by the BJP - say that it was the BJP which, like the Congress, supported the 2002 anti-Jammu amendment that banned delimitation of assembly constituencies for decades together. It needs to be underlined that the BJP, like the Congress, had supported the said amendment willfully overlooking the fact that delimitation of assembly constituencies after every ten years or after every census was a constitutional requirement.
What does all this show? It shows that the choice before the people of Jammu province is rather limited. They cannot depend on the Congress and the BJP, as they are guided by their respective high commands whose interests are different. They need a genuine and public-spirited regional outfit, but they have not really worked in this direction. As a result, they are suffering immense losses in all spheres. If they are to ensure their real empowerment, they have no other option but to float a regional outfit or extend full support to the existing regional formations like the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) and the Jammu State Morcha (JSM). The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is another organization that could be depended upon. This is the view of many in Jammu province. |
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