Win is a win,” explained Rural Development Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar. “We have won and it’s a good victory for the coalition.” The victory is being taken a prelude to the plans of Omar Abdullah to contest the 2014 assembly elections jointly. That will do away with the requirement of having a post-poll alliance and bitching around during campaigning. Congress and NC have had a long love-hate history and once people open up, it unwinds Kashmir history’s Pandora’s Box. There are already instances in which they face serious problems.
For a routine NC worker, this is something very serious. On the eve of the poll results that coincided with the birth anniversary of NC founder Sheikh Abdullah, BAB, Kashmir’s legendry cartoonist, showed this crisis by showing a female NC worker complaining to Sheikh that the party stands changed to National Congress (NC + Congress). A routine NC worker who has survived and fought on a strong anti-Congress sentiment historically may not be so happy over it. But politics and the coalitions have always remained dependent on possibilities and compulsions. In Kashmir, the biggest compulsion is to remain in power.
For PDP, the opposition that emerged runner up on all the seats is driving home with the consolation that they lost the berths but not the ground. “We can not be termed to be a political party that is Kashmir centric, we exist across the state,” spokesperson Naeem Akhter said. “In Jammu, we are better than local parties.”
It has been a blessing in disguise for the party. Though a limited number of voters not controlled by any party whip under the law – they were elected on non-party basis, can’t offer any idea of how the mass vote will exhibit its love or hate, the verdict has identified the grey areas for the party. Numbers show the party is undergoing certain changes in south Kashmir, its main support base. It includes constituencies held by chief patron Mufti Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba Mufti.
Admitting the slide, Akhter said while there are visible issues to be tackled, there are instances of improved situation elsewhere. Jammu is very obvious and then we have got good response from Kupwara, Uri and other places which were unexpected. “It would have been good if we would have managed to win, but we have enough to celebrate from today’s results,” Akhter said, adding, “You should understand we were fighting a two party alliance and our performance is no so dismal.” He asserted that the party needs to engage Ladakh better as the party could not do better in either of the two desert districts.
Regardless of who wins and losses, the results are more important for the legislative council, the house of elders which will have, for the first time since 1974, its full quorum – all the 36 seats. The house has four berths reserved for Panchayati Raj Institutions, two for urban local bodies – all elected, eight nominated by the governor (including three from weaker sections) on recommendation of the state government to represent the art, literature, fields and communities which otherwise are not represented in the lower house. The rest 22 are elected by the state legislative assembly on the basis of numbers they have.
J&K is one of the six Indian states that survive with bicameral legislature, having two houses since 1957. All states other than J&K, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Karnataka have done away with the twin houses. Andhra Pradesh done away with it in 1984 but reintroduced it in 2007.
At one point of time, there was a movement within J&K as well that it does not require upper house. Those opposing it had certain reasons to say so. Interestingly, the same reasons still stay in the house. Its contributions to the overall legislation is still unimpressive and the sections of the society that are unrepresented in the lower house are still not represented in the upper house. “It works as a PSU of politics,” explained an official. “We have more than 10 members who lost their elections and were later rehabilitated by their parties in the legislative council.” The council costs J&K Rs 7.50 crore a year.
