Omkar Dattatray
Finally the impatient wait of the political parties and the gullible people has come to close with the final count of votes in Jammu and Kashmir and declaration of the results of the assembly polls which were crucial and historical in more than one way .The outcome of the polls has more or less been as predicted by the exit poll and opinion poll and at the end of the political churning a fractured mandate has come to fore and this churning has produced the political nectar in the form of win to NC-Congress and thus the din and dust of election has given rise to the full chance of NC-Congress coalition government in the mountainous region Jammu and Kashmir which is rightly called the crown of India .Despite the claims and counter claims of NC-Congress pre poll alliance and the BJP of forming the coalition government in the UT ,at the end of the counting ,it is NC-Congress alliance towards which the balance of power is tilted and it is this pre -poll alliance of NC-Congress which is now in a comfortable position to form a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir after a long wait and spell of governors rule .The BJP and its leaders both UT’s and national were over-confident of forming government in Jammu and Kashmir .But it does not pay to be over-confident in politics and more so in elections .The BJP though failed to gain power ,but its performance in elections can be called historical as in the electoral history of Jammu and Kashmir ,for the first time BJP has won 29 seats and thus it is no ordinary thing though the party has been short of the magic number to stake claim for the government formation.BJP has performed well in Jammu region and as expected it has not won a single seat from Kashmir region The election results in Jammu and Kashmir did not sprang any surprise as the outcome of the elections has been at the expected lines and the results of the assembly polls did not even surprise the political pundits and poll stars .All speculations about who will win the crucial Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls has come to end with the emphatic win of the pre-poll alliance of NC-Congress .The NC-Congress alliance will form a coalition government in the UT on its own as far as the election arithmetic is concerned.NC-Congress pre-poll alliance has a definite edge over the BJP as against 29 seats of BJP,NC-Congress pre poll alliance has got 48 seats and it is the magic number in the new assembly given the fact that LG is going to nominate 5 seats from KPs and POJK refugees and thus including the nominated seats the tally of the assembly seats comes to 95.Given this magic number of 48 seats ,the NC-Congress alliance has not to beg for support before the independent candidates whose number is significant ten.PDP which has almost faced rout in these polls has got merely three seats and Mehbooba Mufti has already pledged her support to the NC-Congress alliance for government formation. Congress has not fared well in these polls as it has only got merely 6or 7 seats despite the high pitch campaigning of Rahul Gandhi and Prayanka Gandhi .The mainstream regional party National Conference which has a mass base and following across Kashmir valley has performed extremely well because its political rival BJP has no base in Kashmir and the PDP’s base and following has shrunk after it has entered into alliance government with BJP in 2014.
It is also a fact that a big number of independent candidates also could not dent the political fortune of the NC given the fact that these independents were not successful in making division of votes .Even Engineer factor has done little damage to the prospects and political harvest of the NC .In this crucial poll Kashmiris have voted as Referendum on the Modi’s overriding decisions of August 2019 whereby the center had revoked the special status and position of Jammu and Kashmir by scrapping Article 370 and having downgraded the state into Union Territory .On 5 August 2019 center had unilaterally stripped the Jammu and Kashmir of the statehood and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two UT’s that is Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh .So the election result shows the resentment of Kashmiris on these decisions .Moreover NC has been successful in creating suspicion and fear among the Kashmiri Muslims that if BJP wins it will create troubles for them by giving the examples of UT .But it is a false and negative narrative created by the NC and thus it has been successful in weaning away of Kashmiris from voting in favor of the saffron party despite the spectacular development of Jammu and Kashmir post abrogation of Article 370.Besides peace and normalcy and change for better BJP failed to win seats from Kashmir thanks to the negative campaigning and false narrative woven by the NC .Now that NC-Congress alliance is all set to form coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir in few days ,the new government should try to fulfill its poll promises and fulfill the promises given in its poll manifesto .The NC-Congress government should earnestly try to address the issues ,concerns and problems of the people of Jammu and Kashmir .This government should come up to the expectations of the people who have reposed trust and confidence in NC-Congress .
The coalition government of NC-Congress should wipe tears from the eyes of the public and heal the hurt psychic of the alienated people of Jammu and Kashmir .It should try to deliver on its promises and try to provide some relief to the people of Jammu and Kashmir who faced disconnect with the governors/LG administration .There was political vacuum in J&K for the last ten years and this election has ended this vacuum as the people now will have a democratic ,and popular government which will care for the interests and aspirations of the people .
Omar Abdulla who is the potential chief minister should shun vendetta politics and treat all friends and political foes equally and try to address the genuine issues and developmental matters of the people of Jammu and Kashmir .
Irrespective of which alliance has won these elections ,one thing stands tall and that is democracy has once again triumphed in Jammu and Kashmir as people has shown trust and confidence in democratic governance and have overwhelmingly took active part in the polls and it is a big thing indeed.
(The writer is a columnist, social and KP activist)
