With anti-incumbency factor riding high, the elections in Jammu and Kashmir won’t be an easy walk even for Bharatiya Janata Party. However, the saffron outfit would try to derive maximum advantage especially with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding numerous election rallies in Jammu and Kashmir. This strategy has paid good dividends in Haryana, where the party had hardly any representation prior to recent elections. Given the fact that BJP has never won from the Kashmir Valley, it will have to assert its presence notwithstanding little prospect. In this direction, opening parleys with smaller political outfits which command significant local influence is an important move. The meeting of former separatist and People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone with Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be an effort to strengthen BJP’s political hold in otherwise weaker areas, especially as Lone has made it clear that his party is not averse to having a post-poll alliance. “Options are open”, that is what he said, putting other aspiring parties in jittery which are engaged in framing up strategy to ally with BJP. The talks came after Sajjad , whose brother Bilal is an Executive Member of Hurriyat Conference, held consultations with BJP leader Ram Madhav. Lone’s Peoples’ Conference is contesting from 12 seats in North Kashmir areas of Kupwara and Handwara. After fielding proxy candidates in 2008, Lone had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections but finished at fifth place. He did not contest this year’s Lok Sabha elections. Thus even if BJP garners 35 odd seats, the partnership with small partners would help it in forming a formidable alliance. PDP and NC both continue to remain in waiting for Modi’s juggernaut. Development is one word on which all parties are wooing the electorates. All experiments apart, visionary policy of political parties with open mind can bring better results. Until recently, no one would have imagined that Lone would become such an important player in Kashmir’s troubled politics. So much so that regardless of political ideologies, parties are seeking his audience. He was seen as too small a player in Kashmir’s mainstream politics. His Peoples’ Conference has a strong base in five Assembly seats in north Kashmir’s Kupwara District, and with PDP fighting over ticket allocation in the prestigious Baramulla Constituency, Lone could well surprise political Pundits.
