news details |
|
|
| Kashmiri leadership displays remarkable unity | | Presidential election | | Rustam
Jammu, July 23: The process to elect 13th President of the Union got completed yesterday with the declaration of result. As was expected, former Union Finance Minister and UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee won the election hands down. He defeated the otherwise brilliant and popular former Speaker of Lok Sabha Purno A Sangma by a huge margin of almost 3,50,000 votes. The victory of Mukherjee, Congress veteran and man of all seasons, was a forgone conclusion given the composition of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as well as State Legislative Assemblies. The level of his popularity could be measured from the fact that even two constituents of the BJP-led NDA - Janata Dal (United) and Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray ) -- voted overwhelmingly for Pranab Mukherjee.
If the victory of Mukherjee was a foregone conclusion, it was also more than evident that members of the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly belonging to Kashmir-based parties, including National Conference, People's Democratic Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), People's Democratic Forum, besides Independent MLA like Engineer Rashid, would vote en-block for Mukherjee. It was clear that the leadership of the Kashmir-based parties would forget their differences and once again prove that when it comes to the crunch they work in unison. The National Conference voted for the UPA candidate because it is part of the UPA, as also because its support to the UPA candidate suits it. The People's Democratic Party supported the UPA candidate for two reasons. One, the PDP patron and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed maintains very good relations with many senior Congress leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Two, the PDP leadership knows that the NC would fair badly in next Assembly elections in the State and the new situation would compel the Congress to snap ties with the NC and look for a new ally. The PDP would be its natural ally, the PDP leadership feels, and quite rightly. After all, the PDP and the Congress had shared power in the State for more than five years between November 2002 and June 2008. As for the CPI-M and the PDF legislators, they share the perceptions and views of the NC and the PDP, and, hence, go with them for the "larger Kashmir cause".
As far as the Jammu-based legislators belonging to these parties, and even the Congress party which is being headed by Saif-ud-Din Soz, are concerned, they have no say of their own. They vote as per the direction of their masters in Kashmir. They are so loyal that they can go to any extent to remain in the good books of their Kashmiri masters.
They can even oppose the Indian Constitution and throw in the lot of their constituencies in Jammu Pradesh with those in Kashmir who have been fighting against the Indian political system, particularly since 1952. In fact, they have already done so, thus leaving none in any doubt that they represent the Kashmiri interests in Jammu and that their commitment is more to their Kashmiri masters than New Delhi.
All in all, it can be said that the Kashmiri leadership and its Jammu-based blind supporters in the Legislative Assembly displayed remarkable unity for the larger Kashmiri cause and here lies the success of the Valley-based "mainstream" leaders. The Kashmiri leadership knows what to do, when to do and how to do to promote their own cause as well as the cause of Kashmir. It's no wonder then that New Delhi listens to them and dances to their tunes. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
