The result of the Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir has thrown up some undeniable facts. And these facts will be the bedrock of the government for the next five years. National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah is well aware of these facts and his remarks since his party emerged as the single-biggest in the Assembly election have resonated that. What is noticeable is that Omar Abdullah, a practical politician, has spoken in a conciliatory tone towards the Narendra Modi-led central government.
The facts that have emerged after the Jammu and Kashmir election is that the NC has 42 seats but the NC-Congress alliance, with 48 seats, is hovering just above the half-way mark of 45 in the J&K Assembly. The NC has won in the Valley, while the plains of Jammu have decisively voted for the BJP. The Congress managed to get just one seat in Jammu region.
The other fact remains that Jammu and Kashmir is a Union Territory and the Centre, through the Lieutenant Governor (L-G), has a hold on the day-to-day functioning of the government. Omar Abdullah, who is likely to become the Chief Minister, realises that.
“We need to have coordination with the Centre. As many issues of J&K can’t be resolved by fighting with the Centre,” Abdullah said in his remarks after the election results came in.
“I will make every effort to ensure that the incoming government works for smooth relations both with the LG and the Union government,” he said. Omar Abdullah discussed how the National Conference would have done well even without an alliance with the Congress.
“The alliance with the Congress wasn’t about seats for us. We would have won the seats without the Congress, except probably one of them,” Omar said. He also said the priority of the new government was to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir for which it would “work with the government in Delhi”.
“In that respect I believe the PM is an honourable man, he has promised the people while campaigning here that statehood will be restored. The honourable home minister did the same,” he added.
The Centre has said that the statehood of J&K would be restored at an appropriate time. The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into union territories of J&K and Ladakh after the revocation of Article 370, which granted the state a special status.
Omar has also signalled that there would be no confrontation on the issue of Article 370, at least for now. “Our political stance has never changed. It is foolish to expect restoration of Article 370 from the BJP. We will keep the issue alive,” he said. “We will continue to bat for restoration of Article 370 when the time is right.”
Omar Abdullah has taken a pragmatic stand for administrative reasons. But will this see any political rapprochement?
“The NC will not suddenly discover some love for the BJP and vice versa. We will continue to oppose each other politically,” he said, explaining his political stance. “I am drawing a distinction between the NC and the BJP on one side, and the J&K government and the Centre on the other.”
Though there might be no political joining of forces with the BJP for now, the NC and the BJP had been partners earlier. The NC was a constituent of the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Omar Abdullah was a minister in the Vajpayee government between 1999 and 2002.
Veteran politician Ghulam Nabi Azad, in an interview claimed that NC chief Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah made calculated efforts to forge an alliance with the BJP in 2014.
This was confirmed by BJP’s J&K in-charge Ram Madhav in an interview on October 2.”In 2014, there was a peculiar situation where there was only a possibility of BJP-NC or BJP-PDP coming together to form the government. That time, yes, the talks did take place with both NC and PDP, which finally led to the BJP-PDP forming the government,” Ram Madhav said.
Ram Madhav, however, dismissed any talk of the BJP joining hands with the NC or any other party in J&K. That was almost a week before the results were declared.
The National Conference tried to form a government with the BJP even after the abrogation of Article 370, senior BJP leader Devendra Singh Rana said. Rana, former political advisor to Omar Abdullah, joined the BJP three years ago.
“Even after the scrapping of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, the National Conference approached the BJP to form a coalition but the BJP’s leadership rebuffed all the overtures of the NC leaders,” said Rana.
So, the issue of Article 370 might not come as a hurdle if the BJP and the NC decide to come together. The Assembly election results declared on October 8 also brought to the fore the Valley-plains divide. While NC won seats in the Valley, the BJP gains were in Jammu.
“We also have the added challenge of giving a sense of belonging or sense of ownership to parts of J&K that didn’t vote for the coalition at all. The plains of Jammu rejected the coalition, but they will have to feel a part of the government. You cannot ignore them for 5 years,” said Omar.
This is where the BJP comes in. The BJP, the second-biggest party in J&K, won all its 29 seats in Jammu. The joining of the hands of the NC and the BJP would bridge the Valley-plain gap. This government is as much of the voters of the BJP as much of those of the NC-Congress.
With the five nominated members, the BJP strength stands at 34, which is substantial for a stable government in Kashmir. Though Omar Abdullah might be leaning towards PM Modi for smooth administrative functioning, the pragmatism of politics could also open other doors which currently remain tightly shut. (INDIA TODAY)
