By; Syed Adnan
J&K’s election battle just seems to be getting interesting with each passing day ever since the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced dates for holding the assembly elections in the Union Territory. It appears to be a festive season of entries and exits, joinings and rejoinings for politicians who have come out of their burrows after a lull of more than a decade.
It also appears to be a season of surprises, and shocks. That Jamaat-e-Islami, which had declared people’s participation in elections as “haram” for last 30 years, is now openly fielding its candidates in the election fray is indeed a surprise. That so-called separatist leaders have started participating in the electoral exercise is indeed a shock—ideally you would not expect such a thing to happen in Kashmir. But credit does go to the BJP-led Government for making this happen.
It is immaterial how and why it has happened. But it is certainly material—in both essence and spirit—to realise that this is indeed a reality.
What has made the poll battle even more exciting is the number of candidates who have jumped into the poll fray this time around. More than leaders of known political parties like the National Conference, PDP and Congress, it seems to be a festive season for independent candidates who are jumping into the electoral battle in hordes. It is like the Pied Piper of Hamelin making rounds of Kashmir areas in the poll season, and pulling candidates out of the burrows. It may not be perplexing though to conclude that at a time when even separatists have made it to the poll battle, the ordinary people have no reason to stay away.
However, it is the questions hovering in the minds of people over the ‘origin’ of these independent candidates which is causing more of a political unease in the Valley. That every second independent is being perceived—even accused—as being a proxy of the BJP should be a cause of concern for the saffron party, which has already fielded its candidates from some of the Valley’s poll-bound constituencies.
The bigger question at hand is: Are these independents really proxies of the BJP? If yes, then the saffron party seems to have lost the poll battle in advance because, as they say, it is better to lose with grace than win with a proxy. It runs directly contrary to the BJP narrative of having made significant gains—and a strong footing—in Kashmir since August 2019.
No doubt, the party may not gain much on its own in the Valley, which has never been its poll bastion. But fighting on its own—without owning any proxies—would at least keep the narrative alive that it is because of the BJP’s strong administration over the years that free and fair polls have been possible. And that the party believes in fair fight rather than a fight through proxies.
Another important reason why the BJP should immediately disown the proxies it doesn’t own is this: these proxies are causing more alienation of the BJP in Kashmir rather than doing it any service. If these proxies cannot openly announce their allegiance to the BJP, then they are somehow themselves ostracizing the BJP in the eyes of the people. And this is very serious for the party in the long run. There may be short term gains here and there, but it is unlikely that people’s hearts can be won with such a ‘proxy arrangement’. This was clearly seen during this year’s Lok Sabha elections when parties/candidates who were seen close to BJP couldn’t make an impact in Kashmir.
Remember, some of them even lost their security deposits. And one of the primary reasons for this debacle is the distrust created by the BJP in Kashmir by fielding proxies rather than its own candidates. It would have been prudent on part of the grand old saffron party to clearly ask these proxies to join the BJP and fight on BJP ticket, rather than fight as BJP’s proxies and yet disown allegiance to BJP in the public. One big question here is: what’s the party gaining at the end of the day this way? It is clearly losing on both ends.
On one hand, BJP has sent senior leaders like Ram Madhav for “Kashmir poll mission”, but on the other hand, it is the proxies who are causing dent in the party’s poll prospect. An important issue here is can the BJP rely on too many independents should it require their support to form the Government? Wouldn’t it be better for the party to explore partnership with a regional party then (whichever has the numbers next to BJP) to form the government? There may hardly be a few independents who may win the elections. Even in smaller parties like Apni Party, Awami Ittihad Party, DPAP etc. there may not be significant numbers? Even if there are significant numbers which may help BJP to form the government, it would be a coalition government which would always be perceived to be on crutches? The BJP should draw lessons from the recent LS poll debacle wherein it had to rely on JDU and TDP to form the Government, and what is seen is a daily compromise on multiple issues due to the coalition compulsions. It is true that in J&K the BJP would still need a coalition partner, but having one partner is better than having multiple partners with varying objectives and goals.
To conclude, the election prudence says the BJP must immediately disown all independents it doesn’t actually own. Because disowning them would restore the party’s narrative, credibility and standing—howsoever small it may be in the Valley. Owning the independents who are perceived to be BJP’s proxies does more damage to the party than any service. The party must think of long-term interests rather than short-term goals. And it is only through party’s own candidates, who would go to the ground to convince people about their agenda, that BJP’s long term goals can be achieved in Kashmir. Otherwise the party itself would be seen as the party of proxies, rather than an independent entity capable of making a strong foray into Kashmir governance in near future.
(NOTE: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Kashmir Dot Com, its editorial staff, or its affiliates. KDC does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any claims made in this opinion piece.)
