Political Dangal Amidst The Love Triangle In Jammu and Kashmir
Political dangal is at its peak in Jammu and Kashmir. It is not even a month since the Omar Abdullah government took charge in J&K UT, and the gloves are off.
There is a kind of love triangle in Jammu and Kashmir politics now. State assemblies are usually bipolar, featuring the ruling party and the opposition. Jammu and Kasmir UT is in a league of its own. J&K boasts of a tri-polar assembly.
There is the ruling party, the National Conference, with an absolute majority in the House. The primary opposition is the BJP with 29 legislators, all from the Jammu region.
The third pole in the J&K Assembly is the Kashmir opposition, comprising of the following: One, the three MLAs of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Two, Sajad Lone, the lone representative of his party, People’s Conference. Three, the Awami Ittehad Party’s Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh, the brother of MP Engineer Rashid.
BJP legislators from Jammu will always remain loyal to their party, which is in power at the Centre, and they will follow the party diktat. The Kashmir parties represent the political sentiments of the Valley. It is here that the sentiment is divided.
NC Resolution Draws Opposition Wrath
BJP IT Cell National Convener Amit Malviya posted on X about the resolution posted by NC in the House regarding the pre-2019 position in J&K.
He wrote, “Interesting development in J&K Assembly. The resolution adopted today reflects a new approach by the ruling National Conference. Instead of insisting on the full restoration of Article 370, the resolution calls for open dialogue on the issue—a significant shift that acknowledges the new reality post 5th August 2019.
While this step paves the way for meaningful engagement with the people of J&K, the delusional Congress with 6 MLAs has apparently opposed the resolution.”
Malviya deleted the tweet after BJP MLAs and workers protested against the resolution in Kashmir and Jammu.
The tweet raised suspicions among Kashmir-based opposition leaders.
Sajad Lone called the resolution weak. Waheed Parra complained that the resolution offered no condemnation of the 2019 move of abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A. He stated in an interview, “Resolution is not a law or legal binding but definitely a will of people to call the move of 2019 as wrong. The first thing in the NC resolution should have been to accept the wrong and call a spade a spade. The resolution talks about dialogue on special status, which is vague and undefined. We want a resolution on the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A.”
Opposition leaders Sajad Lone, Waheed Parra, and Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh called the NCs resolution the tactical brainchild of the “NC-BJP hidden coalition and not representing the majority will of the people.”
Opposition leaders from the valley alleged that NC has tactically ratified the BJP 2019 move to abrogate Article 370. No condemnation means acceptance, they alleged.
The Kashmir-based opposition leaders’ doubts about the resolution got greater traction after Congress leader and PCC chief Tariq Hamid Karra said that the NC’s resolution is for statehood, not for Article 370.
Does PM Modi Have The Back Of CM Omar Abdullah?
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A pertinent question that is making the rounds in political corridors and social media platforms is this: Is CM Omar Abdullah backed by PM Modi and the BJP?
The opposition MLAs are charging that the ruling National Conference is playing a crafty game by keeping its subtle coalition with the BJP hidden behind the curtain. Fingers were first raised when the photograph of CM Omar Abdullah’s office went viral on Kashmir’s social media.
The photographs on the wall behind the CM’s chair are of President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Former Deputy Mayor of Srinagar Sheikh Imran contrasted this with the photograph of the office of Delhi CM Atishi Marlena. On the wall behind the chair of the Delhi CM, photographs of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh can be seen.
The opposition has been targeting the ruling National Conference for its ‘Good cop, bad cop act’ with Member Parliament from Srinagar, Ruhullah Mehdi. The MP is a pivotal NC member. But lately, he has been projecting himself as the conscience keeper of the National Conference. The opposition is charging that in this way, NC is cleverly playing to all galleries in Jammu and Kashmir.
Waheed Parra’s Resolution, and NC’s Counter Move
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When PDP MLA Waheed Parra moved the resolution in favour of restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A on the first day of the J&K Assembly on November 4, he suddenly catapulted himself to prime space in Kashmir’s vibrant social media. Parra literally stole the show with his resolution demanding restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A.
The politics of Sajad Lone, Waheed Parra and a senior member of NC seems closely aligned. Is there more brewing in Kashmir politics than meets the eye?
Overnight, the political discourse shifted in favour of the PDP and Waheed Parra, and he became the focus of all eyes. Recognising people’s sentiment, MLA Sajad Lone, chief of the People’s Conference, unequivocally supported Parra’s resolution.
This move didn’t go down well with the NC, the ruling party, and the BJP, the main opposition party in the Assembly.
The red lines seem to be drawn. NC has to show a tactical, subtle resistance to the resolution presented by Parra to keep the UT-Centre relations tussle free. The BJP has to show stiff resistance since it has been the party’s long-standing agenda to abrogate Article 370, which they successfully did in 2019.
NC’s Tacitly Worded Resolution On Article 370
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NC has to fulfil its promise of bringing back Article 370 as mentioned in their election manifesto. NC’s politics and its election campaign were largely based on identity politics and its fight for “rights and dignity”.
The National Conference deflected attention away from Parra by bringing in its carefully worded resolution the next day in the Assembly. The NC resolution read, “This Legislative Assembly reaffirms the importance of the special status and constitutional guarantees, which safeguarded the identity, culture, and rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and expresses concern over their unilateral removal… This Assembly calls upon the government of India to initiate dialogue with elected representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the restoration of special status and constitutional guarantees and to work out constitutional mechanisms for restoring these provisions.”
The NC resolution, with its tacit messaging, keeps both the Centre and the home constituency happy. PDP and PC complained that the resolution did not mention Article 370 or Article 35A. The BJP legislators put up a fierce protest against the resolution. Those Kashmiris who suspect a covert NC-BJP alliance feel that the BJP protest and its “tactical shor-o-gul” were stage-managed.
The comments of the top brass of the National Conference on its perspective on the restoration of Article 370 don’t seem to match. The politics of Sajad Lone, Waheed Parra, and a senior member of NC seem closely aligned. Is there more brewing in Kashmir politics than meets the eye?
Zahoor Ahmad is the Deputy Director, Center for Kashmir Analysis and Research (C-KAR)
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