THE QUESTIONS
1. As projected, the hung assembly is here. The difference is, Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are close number 2 and
number 1, respectively. And both parties are under 30 - BJP(25), PDP (28) - as
per the trends and results as of now. Who is the real king here?
2. Though PDP is 3 seats more than BJP, the swing for BJP is of 14
seats from its 2008 tally of 11 that is just double of 7 seats that PDP scored
more this time. But the overall vote share of BJP, 23%, is more than PDP's
22.5%. Also, when seen comparatively for the vote % in 2008 J&K assembly
polls, the BJP gain is huge and unprecedented for party's electoral history in
the state. BJP's vote % of 12.5% jumped to 23% (~11%) while the comparative
increase in PDP's vote % has been moderate, 15.4% to 22.5% (~7%). Doesn't this
make BJP the real winner of BJP's assembly polls, irrespective of whether they
join with 'someone' to form the government or sit in the opposition?
3. National Conference (NC) is third with 15 seats but Omar Abdullah,
the outgoing chief minister who lost one of the two seats contested and could
win one with slim numbers, has come out and said he is satisfied with the
outcome and his 'political obituary' is not here yet. He says, after zero in
the Lok Sabha polls, his party won 15 seats with two party supported
independents and the tally of 17 is a positive development for him. Is this a
result of an honest introspection or an immediate reflection to confront the criticism
as both Congress and NC combined have just 2 seats more than BJP and BJP, a 'not-so-relevant'
force so far in the state politics, has taken the space so far occupied by
Congress and NC?
4. In the four-cornered fight, Congress is the last, with 12 seats,
when it was in alliance with National Conference. Is Congress new BJP of
J&K politics - the national party with a 'fringe' presence in the state?
5. The mandate is clearly not for NC and Omar Abdullah. An honest
introspection should demand the outgoing government and the outgoing chief
minister sit in opposition and work the way in for the next assembly polls.
Yet, Omar says, as some reports say, he is open to go with PDP if the party
approaches, saying if Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar can come together, why can't
PDP and NC. Plain speak Vs political opportunism in quick succession -
desperate signs of Omar to handle the day's developments? Even Omar's 15 MLAs with
PDP's 28 would not make for the majority mark of 44 or his tally of '17' would
give only a slim majority of one seat leaving space open for further
manipulations to get the numbers (at any cost, that can be said if PDP and NC
come together - an act of political opportunism)?
6. Is there possibility of 'PDP + NC + Congress' government? After all,
there are no permanent friends or foes in politics, a cliché that Indian
politicians and political parties follow as dictum.
7. Going by the dictum, can NC come along with BJP (28+15=43) to manage
the numbers as both BJP and NC have support of some independents and others
like Sajjad Lone that can easily take the 'coalition' beyond the '44' mark to
prove majority in the assembly? '
8. Or it has to be about the most plausible combination by the numbers,
PDP with BJP? They both make for 53 MLAs (28+25). With 2 MLAs of Sajjad Lone's People
Conference (PC), 55 is a good enough number in the 87-member state assembly to
run the government. Leaders of both parties have been hinting about a possible
coming-together after the 'hung' scenario was thrown out. As Narendra Modi
didn't mention even once the issue of Article 370 while campaigning, BJP and
RSS can push it to the back seat and PDP, too, can go along with the Armed
Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in J&K.
9. Or will it be about the evergreen political discourse of Indian
politics - secular Vs communal - PDP + NC + Congress + Independents + other
parties - bringing parties and independents against BJP on one platform -
especially after BJP's poor show in Kashmir Valley?
10. BJP has once again failed in the Valley. Except one, all BJP
candidates lost their deposits in the Valley. The Muslim dominated region of
J&K has rejected BJP and Narendra Modi given the fact Narendra Modi was the
face of campaigning, both in Jharkhand and in J&K. Will the Modi Wave/Modi
Wave remain a non-Muslim politics phenomenon?
11. How will this performance of BJP in the Kashmir Valley further
affect/hurt the BJP chances to become a pan-India party with an acceptability
across religions/communities?
12. For the national politics, isn't the humiliating outcome in the Valley
a warning signal for Narendra Modi that he needs to act fast and tough on
erring and motormouth leaders making senseless statements on religious
conversions, Hindu nationalism and provocative issues like 'love-jihad' when
the central promise Narendra Modi made while asking for votes was
'development'?
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
