A tough road ahead

People have given their verdict through assembly polls and now it is the responsibility of the coming elected government to come upto their expectations.

It is a fact that Jammu and Kashmir is not  now  what it was before August 2019. It is also a fact that the new government will have to face new and tough challenges at various levels from time to time in view of the drastic changes made since then. Jammu and Kashmir is no more a powerful state like it was in the past.  It is just a union territory and its other part, Ladakh has been separated from it and made another union territory. The Article 370, Article 35-A,  the state constitution and state flag are also gone. Because of some more changes made this year the Chief Minister and the assembly are not as powerful as they used to be in the past on some important matters.

National Conference's pre-poll alliance partner Congress winning only one seat in Jammu region has  created an added challenge for the new government. How this challenge will be tackled is to be seen.

National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah, who is likely to be  the new Chief Minister, said that the major responsibility  for the incoming government is to give a sense of ownership to the people of Jammu. Talking to media, he said that the new government will  be a government for every single individual of Jammu and Kashmir. Omar added that having cordial working relations with the central government is imperative. According to political observers  maintaining  of  such cordial relations is equally important for the best interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and democracy. People by voting in large numbers have shown tremendous faith in democracy and free and fair polls. The concerned stakeholders have respected the verdict of the people  and now it is being hoped that this verdict is respected further through smooth functioning of the new government.

All political parties will surely review the election performance  and see what were their achievements and failures. Right now NC is widely being congratulated for its splendid victory.  Credit goes to its leadership and cadres for making their party a dominant political force again after 2002. Besides the hardwork of  leaders and cadres, two developments in past  also played a crucial role in its victory. One being that after 2014 assembly  polls its arch rival PDP went against its mandate and formed a coalition government with the BJP . And  then the same BJP abrogated Article 370 and 35 A, and bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories in 2019. National Conference sought votes against these decisions of central government and people in Kashmir responded positively. Even the alliance partner Congress also got benefitted. The response was almost similar in Poonch,  Rajouri and Ramban in Jammu region. The anger against PDP was very much visible as it could only get only three seats.

Some political analysts believe that too much of experimenting in Kashmir proved costly for BJP. Creating  more and more division of votes to politically weaken  NC and PDP and strength the like minded parties and independents in Kashmir during elections helped the cadre based NC. BJP' s sustained campaign  against NC had no takers in Kashmir.

But  the Congress leadership and cadres miserably failed to cash on the reported growing resentment of some sections of people in Jammu due to their day-to day issues.  BJP which seemed losing the grip managed a spectacular comeback. All credit goes to their central leadership for that.  BJP increased its number of seats and vote share in Jammu. But the party still could not form its government or a  coalition government with others. Its efforts to woo the schedule tribe voters (Gujjar, Bakerwal and Paharis) through  different measures did not work.

For NC the victory was beyond its expectations. After the defeat of Omar Abdullah in parliamentary elections by Er Rashid, the party's confidence was shaking in assembly polls. Amid the predictions of a hung assembly, the things did not seem going  in favour of the party much. Credit for taking NC to the top level during elections also goes to its President Dr Farooq Abdullah. It was him who created lot of enthusiasm and confidence in the party to fight the elections. He persuaded a reluctant Omar Abdullah to contest and lead from the front. NC presented a mixed package of its senior and junior leaders before the people. Preserving and protecting its senior leaders, who are its assets,  also played an important role in foiling all attempts by BJP to weaken the party. The senior leaders and cadres stood behind the party like a solid rock. The voting by floating voters in favour of NC also helped the party. Most of these voters used to vote for non- NC parties  in past but they this time decided to go with NC in view of the changed political atmosphere.

Position of NC is likely to get strengthened further as some more elected independents are expected to support the party. That can help NC to ease the pressure from its  alliance partner Congress during government formation. Congress had already taken a good share of seats while forming a pre-poll alliance with NC. At that time NC was not sure about its own full strength. But now during government formation Congress will not be having that much of bargaining power. However, NC  cannot afford losing the support of its six MLAs for appeasing the BJP. Relying wholly on independents and saying good bye to Congress  at present or in future can be suicidal for NC. The elected MLAs are mostly NC and Congress rebels who fought elections after not getting the mandate.

Author is senior editor, Greater Kashmir