Mainstream politicians struggling to survive in Naya Kashmir?

“I find it very difficult to motivate myself, I have lost motivation: Omar Abdullah

Several mainstream politicians including former Chief Ministers Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti are virtually struggling to survive in ‘Naya‘ Kashmir.

In the absence of routine political activities taking place in Kashmir, these leaders have been finding it difficult to stay relevant and motivate their own cadre to continue in active politics.

The public meetings have almost vanished from the political landscape of the region.

First, it was due to the law and order situation arising after the abrogation of Article 350 and 35-A and later COVID-19 pandemic made matters worse and forced these leaders to stay indoors and attend only closed-door meetings with a handful of party workers and senior leaders. When these leaders were detained no major protest demonstration was organised by the party workers demanding their early release. Their credibility hit rock bottom and forced them to stay indoors even after they were released.

The DDC election results were declared on December 22 and till date, the chairpersons of 20 newly elected DDC’s have not been elected.

Compared to National Conference (NC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headed by Mehbooba Mufti suffered a major jolt as several senior leaders disassociated themselves from the PDP and joined newly launched Jammu and Kashmir Apni party (JKAP).

Interestingly, the political activities which were expected to take centre stage during the maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls also could not take place. Poor percentage of polling in areas which these leaders claimed remained their bastion further exposed them as they could not muster popular votes in support of their party candidates. Infighting in the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) further compounded their miseries as they fielded candidates against each other to retain their party clout over the masses.

In the backdrop of these political developments, the partial political activity witnessed in parts of Kashmir valley too remained restricted to few selected areas where none of these leaders could visit or address any of the public gatherings fearing peoples backlash.

Now after the culmination of the month-long poll process, the elections for the posts of chairpersons are yet to take place.

The DDC election results were declared on December 22 and till date, the chairpersons of 20 newly elected DDC’s have not been elected.

Omar and other leaders have been calling Apni Party as the BJP’s B-team in Jammu and Kashmir. Apni Party had won only 12 seats in the DDC polls.

PAGD suffered a major blow, Sajjad Lone exited

The alliance of the Kashmir based mainstream leaders suffered a major blow with the ouster of Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference Chairman Sajjad Lone.

The alliance was formed ahead of the DDC polls to unitedly face the political challenge. They fought elections in support of restoring the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and reversing the reorganisation of the state into two Union Territories.

While exiting the alliance Sajjad Lone also exposed the facade of unity.

In his three page letter addressed to the chairman of the Alliance Dr Farooq Abdullah, Sajjad Lone wrote, “There has been a breach of trust between partners which we believe is beyond remedy.”

“The majoritarian view in our party is that we should pull out of the alliance in an amicable manner rather than waiting for things to get messier. And I am confirming that we will no longer be a part of the PAGD alliance”. Sharing his angst, Sajjad further wrote, “We fought against each other in Kashmir province, not against the perpetrators of August 5, 2019.

And those who perpetrated August 5 and their minions are now vocally gleeful “Sajjad wrote in the letter. “In the majority of the places, the party fielding the candidate on behalf of PAGD was left to fend for itself and secured the votes that his party managed. In most places, other parties were silent bystanders or worst compounded the problem by fielding proxy candidates”.

These days both Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have been making regular allegations against the administration of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir claiming they are trying to subvert the recent results of the District Development Council (DDC) polls by forcing elected council members to join Apni Party.

Omar and other leaders have been calling Apni Party as the BJP’s B-team in Jammu and Kashmir. Apni Party had won only 12 seats in the DDC polls.

These leaders have been claiming in their utterances that the mandate given by the ‘Kashmiris’ in support of the PAGD has been hijacked especially by the Apni party leaders by way of forcing a handful of independent candidates to join the APNI party.

After the announcement of the results even Omar Abdullah openly claimed, “I find it very difficult to motivate myself, I have lost motivation. A certain light inside may not have been switched off but it’s a lot dimmer. I have never been like this.” Omar also said he has no easy answers and has lots of doubts.

On January 26, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, despite remaining Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir shied away from extending greetings on the occasion of Republic day celebrations.

A political observer said, ” they are both frustrated and deliberately trying to provoke a situation where they are engaged politically and get space to run their political agenda. The political commentator said, “The duo remain very active on various social media platforms. regularly post updates related to their political activities and also share comments on events taking place in their proximity. Sometimes they also find enough time to write personal condolence messages and pay tributes. The duo also posts congratulatory messages and comment on political developments and international events but they could not find time to post a message on the occasion of Republic Day.”