NEW DELHI: Just like the Muslims in the Lok Sabha elections rallied behind Congress, in Kashmir also, they want to replicate the sentiment for Congress and give it a mandate to run the government, sources said.
As the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are expected to be conducted before September according to the Supreme Court ruling, the Congress party is hoping to perform better than the regional parties, including National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the upcoming assembly elections.
According to leaders in the state, just like the Muslims in the Lok Sabha elections rallied behind Congress, in Kashmir also, they want to replicate the sentiment for Congress and give it a mandate to run the government. However PDP and NC leaders suggest that the regional parties have deep rooted connect in their bastions, which will not allow any single party to have majority.
Rahul Gandhi’s acceptance among the electorate has increased after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which could play a positive role in drawing votes towards the grand old party, according to party leaders in the Kashmir Valley (which holds 47 assembly seats out of the 90).
“The only problem that stands between the Congress and people is the state Congress leadership. And such a problem is not just a momentary thing that has come up now, but it has been existing there after the appointment of Vikar Rasool Wani. There is no senior leader he listens to,” a senior Congress leader said.
“He is at loggerheads even with the AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmed Mir. He doesn’t show respect to senior leaders. He is young with no know-how about political dealings. A leader is one with whom people want to connect, but with him people want to disconnect,” the leader added.
According to three Congress leaders privy to the developments, Wani has only been concerned about his Banihal assembly constituency and is trying to nurture the segment as he thinks that the former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad can cause serious damage to his electoral prospects subsequently leading him to neglect all other shortcomings of the grand old party in the state.
Besides the depleting cadre of Congress in the Jammu and Kashmir region, there are talks within the lower levels of the party that Congress could cobble up three party alliances with PDP and NC. However a senior Congress leader in the state said, “There is no truth in it. We have had no talks about it. This could just be a wishful thinking of a few leaders.
Moreover, Congress has a better standing and can perform better than other regional parties so why to have an alliance?”
Another PDP leader having an official position in the party said, “NC did not have alliance with us in Lok Sabha elections so how can they have it in assembly elections. Although the equation has changed after Omar Abdullah lost the Lok Sabha constituency but the arrogance they had is not broken yet. We could easily have won all the three seats had Omar agreed to the seat sharing formulae and accommodated PDP.”
According to other leaders, the probability of alliance in Kashmir is very little. However the leaders think that because of BJP’s robust cadre in Jammu, the national party may tie up an alliance with one regional party to dent the saffron camp in Jammu region, which has 43 assembly seats.