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COVER JAN 31ST 2009
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Cover Story Cong - NC Coalition 
It may be true that people in Jammu have been swayed towards BJP by the sentimental slogan of Baba Amarnath, but in Kashmir people by and large have voted for peace with dignity and good relations with Pakistan that had been PDP’s slogans. BY RAMNEEK MANHAS The recent poll results in Jammu and Kashmir have once again brought NC and Congress together and the number game suggests that the combination will provide a stable government. Stability of the government indeed is important, but not as important as the unity and integrity of the State particularly when it stands torn apart first in the aftermath of twenty years of communally motivated freedom struggle and then the violence and counter violence caused due to Amarnath land dispute. Whereas Congress and National Conference are considered to be the organizations of moderates, PDP and BJP represent radical elements opposing each other’s political agenda. Though the moderates will try to maintain peace to keep the government stable, PDP and BJP will keep the ruling alliance on toes by raising controversial issues. And whereas BJP has already made it clear that it will leave no stone unturned to fight out the discriminatory policies against Jammu and Ladakh regions the PDP will exploit Kashmiri sentiments to strengthen its already increasing acceptability in the Valley and both the parties will flourish on each other’s reaction. BJP, Panthers Party and PDP needless to say are like pouches of gun powder which if kept together (in opposition) can catch fire at the slightest instigation and deepen the dangerous regional and religious divide in the sensitive border state. The need of the hour therefore was to keep them separated and the only way was to rope in either PDP or BJP for a coalition. But this could not happen. Neither NC-BJP had the required numbers nor had PDP-Congress that strength on the basis of which they could form a stable government. But some effort could have been done to bring PDP, Congress, Panthers Party and four independents together to isolate these bags of inflammable explosives from each other to ensure that these could not form the dangerous Opposition detrimental for the unity and integrity of Jammu and Kashmir. Unfortunately even the Congress high command preferred to go for a stable government rather than for a stable state, which certainly does not auger well. Before forging a hasty alliance with National Conference the Congress high command should have taken into consideration the massive voter turn out in the militant hot bed (Rural Kashmir) that has given mandate to PDP and enhanced its tally from 16 in 2002 to 21 seats in 2008. Not only this, the PDP has also lost at least four seats by razor thin margin, which can also be credited in to its account. Had the huge voter turn out been in favour of NC its number should have also gone up. The National Conference has won mostly in places where polling percentage could not exceed 20 percent. Analysts say that the high turn out of voters has been for development, which is not true. Had this been so then Congress should not have won only 3 out of 46 seats in Valley. It is wrong to say that Congress has lost only 3 seats as compared to 20 in 2002. The fact is that it lost the scope of forming government at its own, which it could, had the slogan of development worked. May be that people in Jammu were swayed towards BJP in the aftermath of Amarnath land row, but in Kashmir people by and large have voted for PDP’s healing touch policy. In Jammu also, PDP has opened its account by winning 2 seats and enlarging its vote bank from 32,000 in 2002 to 1, 21, 000 in 2008. The need of the hour was to appreciate the significant change of mind. But this was not done. The short sighted approach of power hungry politicians has once again put Jammu and Kashmir on the path of turmoil much to the delight and benefit of the disruptive forces, which is the real dimension of the new Cong-NC alliance. Is it a mandate for Cong-NC alliance? 
Time has proved that had there been no Amarnath land dispute, the PDP– Congress coalition was perhaps the best government that Jammu and Kashmir had ever experienced. BY RAMNEEK MANHAS Poll 2008 has been of historic importance and so has been the people’s mandate. Not only that the Sate has witnessed all time high polling percentage since 1987, the voter has also rejected the call of the separatists for boycotting the elections. When the Election Commission of India declared the schedule for the State Assembly the Valley was witnessing huge anti-India processions some time in the name of Muzaffarabad Challo and sometimes in the name of Lal Chowk Challo. The public response to the separatist call was so strong that conducting elections could genuinely be understood as a futile exercise. Reading the people’s pulse the mainstream political parties including Congress, PDP and NC had expressed their inability to participate in the poll process. They had even asked the Election Commission for conducting Assembly elections with the Parliament elections due in April-May 2009. The EC however did not budge from its stand saying that the turn out was not important, what was important was the timely end of the governor’s rule in the State and time has proved that the stand of the EC worked. Surprisingly, the voter turn out was high enough to stun everybody including the separatists and the mainstream parties as it would not have been more had the polls been deferred till April or May 2009. The high voter turn out is indeed suggestive of people’s faith in democracy, but whether the mandate was in favour of Congress and National Conference to forge a coalition indeed is a debatable proposition. In poll 2002, NC had 28 seats to its credit. Followed by NC, Congress had bagged 20 seats. PDP had won 16 seats whiles BJP had just one seat to its kitty. Panthers Party of Professor Bhim Singh had bagged four seats-three from Udhampur district and one from Samba. This time though NC has retained its old number, its vote percentage has considerably slipped down. Same has happened with Congress. Congress, too has won 17 seats as against 20 in 2008, but its vote bank has also shrunk. The gainers are PDP and BJP that have increased not only their numbers, but vote bank also to unexpected extent. In Jammu province as against 32,000 votes in 2002, PDP has bagged 1,21,000 votes. In Kashmir the party has bagged as many as 4,57,000 votes against 2,14,000 votes in 2002. Similarly, BJP has bagged 5,00,000 votes in 2008 against 3,14,000 votes in 2002. What is the public mandate then? The verdict needless to say is not for Congress and NC to form the government, and if the NC-Cong alliance is there it is because of the technical reasons only. Time has proved that had there been no Amarnath land dispute, the PDP- Congress coalition was perhaps the best government that Jammu and Kashmir had ever experienced. It brought peace; it brought prosperity; it brought sense of security and it brought change of mind. To consolidate the gains the PDP-Cong coalition experiment should have once again been repeated. This was in the national interest and this was in the interest of all the three regions of the State as well. It was perhaps in this backdrop that the senior Congress leader, Pranab Mukhaerji had announced a post poll alliance between Congress and PDP. PDP dissociates from UPA alliance 
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti conveyed her party’s decision to the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in a communiqué. A COPY OF THE LETTER DELIVERED TO THE UPA CHAIRPERSON Madam Sonia Ji, Six years back we had started a journey together against the backdrop of blood, mayhem, repression and despondency in Jammu & Kashmir. Today there is enough indication on ground to feel satisfied that the alliance turned out to be an enterprise of hope for the people of Jammu & Kashmir that you and Mufti Saheb had intended it to be. Your statesmanship contributed in a substantial measure to the turnaround in the situation. And for the first time in the State’s history, the PDP-Congress Coalition worked as a remarkable facilitator of reconciliation between political aspirations of the State, its developmental needs and the national interest. In fact the measures of significance initiated by the PDP-Congress Coalition Government led to an entirely new realization of peace as the only way forward in South Asia. During the stewardship of Mufti Saheb at the State level, an unprecedented national consensus was attained on Kashmir and the need for opening up to Pakistan and reaching out to the people of Jammu & Kashmir for its final settlement was vehemently articulated by the then Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee and his successor Dr Manmohan Singh. The peace and reconciliation process made the mainstream of Kashmir politics to gain a new status and prestige as a factor for resolution and the ground situation in the State started transforming positively. My father and my party feel we have done a duty towards our State, which could not have been achieved without the support of your party and the UPA Government. I have from time to time been briefing you on the goings on in our coalition arrangement, which unfortunately could not run its full course. But, even after the fall of the PDP-Congress Coalition Government in the State, we continued to be with the UPA and extended our full support to your government at the Center in whatever circumstances. We had gone into the recent elections with our agenda for dialogue, Self-Rule, reduction of troops and scrapping of special powers in view of the vastly improved ground situation in the State. The emphatic rejection of violence by the people of the State as a means of solving problems and reiteration of their faith in democratic means became very clear during the just concluded elections. We have been raising the vital issues concerning the State and its people for quite some time in the interest of peace and stability. We as a responsible opposition will continue to flag the issues that we feel people have mandated us for. As you have exercised your unquestionable right to choose a partner for government formation in J&K, we wish the new government well. I sincerely hope the new Government in the State is able to respond to the highly complex situation with success. In view of your new arrangement with the National Conference, both in the State and in the UPA, you would appreciate our difficulty in continuing to be a part of the UPA. My party has decided to stay away from the arrangement as it has become now untenable for PDP to continue in this alliance. While conveying the party decision, I may express my gratitude for the personal affection that you always showered on me, the consideration that you and your Government showed to our point of view and the historic contribution you made to Kashmir’s fortunes in 2002. With warm wishes and best regards, Yours Sincerely, (MEHBOOBA MUFTI) Azad’s new role For upcoming Lok Sabha elections Azad can prove to be the most suitable Congress candidate from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituency. BY RAMNEEK MANHAS Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, according to reports published in a section of media is seeking role for himself in national politics. The man got sixty thousand record votes in 2005 defeating his nearest BJP rival by a massive margin. In this election also he got sixty percent of the total votes polled. Shockingly however Azad wants to leave the state politics and return to the national politics. There are speculations that he is being inducted in the AICC as a General Secretary and assigned some important task to ensure victory of the party in the up coming Lok Sabha polls. Azad is young; he is hard working and he is meticulous. He could not become the Chief Minister, but this cannot be termed as his failure. Despite acute anti-Congress wave that was blowing across the State in the aftermath of Amarnath Land Row, Congress bagged 17 seats-a great success of which the credit goes to Azad alone. Had Azad not done massive development in the State, Congress would not have touched even the double digit mark and it is perhaps this reason that the Congress high command wants his services to be utilized at the national level. Whatever the reason, Azad is leaving state politics much to the dissatisfaction of his political fans and followers. But there is still a solution whereby he can remain in the state and national level simultaneously. For upcoming Lok Sabha elections he can be the most suitable Congress candidate from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituency. With the help of 8 MLAs from Congress and 2 from friendly NC, Azad can win hands down the seat, which otherwise would be a difficult task for any other Congress candidate to win. By becoming the elected MP Azad can take care of his Assembly constituency also, which has given him immense love and massive mandate even by voting against their own parties and candidates. Lal Singh commits ‘suicide’! BY RAMNEEK MANHAS Incumbent Lok Sabha member, Ch. Lal Singh has committed a political suicide by deciding to contest Assembly elections from Kathua as a Congress candidate. Lal Singh had earned enormous popularity within a short tenure as State’s Health Minister in PDP-Congress coalition government headed by Mufti Sayeed. He was elected to the State Assembly from Basolhi constituency, but had to leave the Ministry after he was elected to the Lok Sabha. In his place his wife Kanta Andotra was elected from Basolhi. She was repeated in 2008 polls also, but could not retain the seat. But it was not she alone who lost, her husband also lost the elections and finished fifth by securing paltry six thousand votes. This is not understandable as to why this sitting MP decided to contest Assembly elections, but one thing has become crystal clear that had he won this election he would have become the Deputy Chief Minister in place of Tara Chand. Kathua had been a hot bed of Amarnath Sangharsh Samitti agitation that had created huge hatred against Congress. Also the sitting MLA, Babu Singh had made it already clear that he would contest elections independently if he was denied the party ticket. Some other senior Congress leaders were also in the race for the party ticket and it was sure that if they were ignored they would not support the party candidate. Lal Singh should have understood the brewing revolt, but he failed to do so and the result is for everybody to see. Ch. Lal Singh has not only lost the Assembly seat, he has also lost the golden opportunity of becoming the Dy. CM of Jammu and Kashmir- a sting which he may never forget. People in political circles believe that had Lal Singh decided to contest from Basolhi he would have certainly won, but why his wife did not leave her seat and why the roaring lion was allowed to commit political harakari even those close to Lal Singh have no answer of. Mr. clean’s clean cabinet Our political system has grown sick let there be no doubt about that. Our leaders do speak of making the system clean, but no political party has ever tried to give clean candidates. BY RAMNEEK MANHAS When Omar Abdullah asked the Congress high command to give clean Congress MLA’s to be made Ministers in his cabinet Mr. Clean wouldn’t have known that searching clean men in Congress was like searching a needle in the heap of straw. During his stint as MoS in NDA government, Omar Abdullah had proved that he is a man of integrity and honesty. As NC chief also, he has tried to prove that he believed in honest politics. And if he wanted to maintain his image by giving a clean Ministry this could also not be considered as a gimmick. His selection of Ministers from within his own party provides enough proof of his being sincere, but inducting some tainted element from Congress speaks volumes about his helplessness,too. One of the new Congress Ministers was sacked from Azad Ministry after his own colleague in the Assembly had accused him of accepting bribe from him; another one was accused by none else than his own party MP, of being involved in notorious Srinagar Sex Scandal; the third one is facing charges of misappropriation of funds meant for earthquake victims of 2005 and the fourth one is accused of selling government medicines in the black market. The record of others who are waiting in their wings to be included in the Cabinet of Mr. Clean is also no different. I don’t know much about Omar Abdullah personally. I have met him twice when he was MoS Industries in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Union government- first time for an interview for J&K Reporter and second time for advertisement support. Whereas he obliged me in the first meeting, my second meeting was disappointing. But the plea he gave me for not giving me the advertisement was convincing so I was not hurt. “I can talk to some industrialists for the advertisement, but I am not sure that they will agree. Advertisement is a sort of investment and industrialists in India would not like to do any investment in Jammu and Kashmir as long as the state continues to reel under militancy”. When I asked him to arrange a meeting with Farooq Abdullah for advertisement of State Tourism Department, he told me, “Your critical writings have annoyed Papa. He will not meet you”. Since then I have neither tried to meet him nor his father, but I still remain impressed by the straight forward approach of the young man. I am convinced that if he said he wanted to head a clean Cabinet, he meant it but that searching clean men for his team would be a Herculean task he perhaps was not aware about. Our political system has grown sick let there be no doubt about that. Our leaders do speak of making the system clean, but no political party has ever tried to give clean candidates. The hypocrisy is not confined to the politicians alone even the public seems to have become fully hypocritical. The voter also elects MLAs and MPs not on the basis of their cleanliness; his preference is also for the party even if the candidate is a ‘Daku’. Mahatma Gandhi had once said that a good person is like a gem that does not lose its shine even when kept under a heap of mud. But who bothers about this golden proverb when people have forgotten even the great Mahatma. Whatever the intensions of Omar Abdullah he will have to remain contented with the men and material available in the existing political bazaar. CHIEF MINISTER’S OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR 1. G. M.Sadiq (INC) March 30, 1965 to Dec. 12, 1971 2. Syed Mir Qasim (INC) Dec.12, 1971 to Feb. 25, 1975 3. Sheikh Abdullah (NC) Feb. 25, 1975 to March 26, 1977 4. President’s Rule March 26, 1977 to July 9, 1977 5. Sheikh Abdullah (NC) July 9, 1977 to Sep.8, 1982 6. Farooq Abdullah (NC) Sep. 8, 1982 to July 2, 1984 7. G.M. Shah (ANC) July 2, 1984 to March 6, 1986 8. President’s Rule March 6, 1986 to Nov.7, 1986 9. Farooq Abdullah (NC) Nov. 7, 1986 to Jan. 19, 1990 10. President’s Rule Jan.19, 1990 to Oct. 9, 1996 11. Farooq Abdullah (NC) Oct. 9, 1996 to Oct. 18, 2002 12. President’s Rule Oct. 18, 2002 to Nov. 2, 2002 13. Mufti Mohd Sayeed (PDP) Nov. 2, 2002 to Nov. 2, 2005 14. Ghulam Nabi Azad (INC) Nov. 2, 2005 to July 11, 2008 15. President’s Rule July 11, 2008 to Jan. 5, 2009 16. Omar Abdullah (NC) January 5, 2009 Omar Abdullah A PROFILE 
On July 22, 2008, Omar gave a passionate speech during the Trust vote. His speech was praised by almost all quarters, and even won him fans on the net. The youngest Chief Minister and President National Conference, Omar Abdullah was born on 10th of March 1970. Omar who is a member of 14th Lok Sabha was elected from Srinagar constituency. Omar who contested from the Ganderbal constituency of Jammu and Kashmir emerged victorious after defeating PDP stalwart Qazi Afzal. He was also a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government in the NDA. Early life and education: Omar the eldest son of Molly and Farooq Abdullah inherited the political legacy from his father and grand father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah; both have remained Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir. Early on he studied at the Burn Hall School Srinagar. He later studied at the exclusive institution, The Lawrence School, Sonawar. He is an alumnus of prestigious Sydenham College, Mumbai. In 1998, Omar Abdullah was elected to 12th Lok Sabha. In 1998-99, he was Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism and Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism. He was the youngest Minister at the age of 29. In 1999, he was re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (2nd term). On October 13, 1999 he took oath as Union Minister of State, Commerce and Industry. On July 22, 2001, he was made Union Minister of State, External Affairs. Omar was re-elected as President of National Conference for a second term in 2006. In March 2006, much to the disapproval of the centre, Omar Abdullah had a one-on-one meeting with Pakistan President, Pervez Musharaf in Islamabad. This was the first meeting of its kind between a main–stream politician from Kashmir and the Pakistani government thereby re–enforcing Omar’s growing commitment to the solution of the Kashmir issue, no matter what the stakes might be; Omar received a rousing reception by thousands of Kashmiris upon his return from there. On July 9, 2007, Omar escaped a bid on his life when suspected militants threw two rifle grenades targeted at him. The incident happened when Omar was interacting with party workers at a party leader’s house. On July 22, 2008, Omar gave a passionate speech during the Trust vote. His speech was praised by almost all quarters, and even won him fans on the net. A net savvy politician Omar also ran a blog on the official website of the party though he could not sustain it for long owing to severe criticism from various quarters. A handsomely looking Omar was also seen on the silver screen. He was seen briefly, playing himself in director, Apoorva Lakhia’s film, Mission Istanbul (2008), based on international terrorism. Poll Decision: 34 parties out for duck 
REPORT PERPARED BY PBI Higher turn-out of 61 odd percent could only help ten parties out of 44 to salvages some pride while as many as 34 small or big parties could not even open their account and were bowled out for duck. Among the ten parties that scored in the staggered seven-phased polls conducted by the election commission of India, there were three parties who could only manage a single victory. According to PBI, the parties that have failed to score include two national parties, BSP and SP. BSP could not manage a single seat despite being only next to National Conference when it comes to participation in the number of constituencies in the 87-seat assembly house. While, NC fielded 85 candidates, BSP contested from 83 segments of the state. The second largest party when it comes to participation and could not manage a single seat was Awami National Conference led by ‘stalwart’ of Kashmir politics, Ghulam Muhammad Shah who dethroned Farooq Abdullah from power in 1984. According to PBI, ANC participated in 56 seats including all 46-assemly segments in Kashmir Valley but were bowled for duck. It was after a gap of 20-years that party made the comeback on the political horizon of Kashmir but turf turned out to be under prepared for them and more so the party players could not handle the situation and did not bother the scorer, being bundled out for duck. The other parties that have failed to win any seat include the NCP (contested 19 seats), the RJD (contested 14) the CPI (contested 7), the All India Forward Bloc (contested 21), the Janata Dal (U) (contested 6), the Janata Dal (Secular) (contested four), the RLD (contested 3 ), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (contested 2), the Lok Janshakti Party (contested 45), the Samata Party (contested 14), the Jammu State Morcha (Progressive) (contested 14), the Socialistic Democratic Party (contested 12), the Bharatiya Bahujan Party (contested 10), the Backward Classes Democratic Party, J&K (contested 7), the Rashtriya Krantikari Samajwadi Party (contested 7), the Bhartiya Chaitanya Party (contested 6), the Jammu & Kashmir National United Front (contested 6), the Republican Party of India (A) (contested 5), the All J&K Kisan Majdoor Party (contested 4), the Janata Party (contested 3), the Republican Party of India (contested 3), the National Lokhind Party (contested 3), the Bharatiya Sampuran Krantikari Party (contested 2), the United Citizen Party (contested 2), the All India Forward Bloc (Subhasist) (contested 1), the Rajya Nojawan Shakti Party (contested 1), the Kranti Dal (contested 1), the National Democratic Party (contested 1), the Forward Bloc (Socialist) (contested 1), the Jammu And Kashmir Awami League (contested 1), the Ambedkar National Congress (contested 1) and the Adarsh Political Party (contested 1). Apart from zero scorers, there were three parties that together contested from 60 assembly segments but managed only three seats. Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary whose party contested from eight segments, Muhammad Yousuf Targami won one seat while People’s Democratic Front, contested on 27, but only party president Hakeem Yaseen managed to emerge victorious while Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party (Nationalist) won a single seat from twenty five and that too went into the lap of party president Ghulam Hassan Mir. |
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