Amid the political tug-of-war over Article 370 and 35(A) in Jammu and Kashmir, the two major local parties in the state, People's Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference (NC), have engaged in a sort of understanding that is unprecedented.
Congress vs BJP in Jammu and Udhampur
In the 2014 general elections, the BJP had bagged the Jammu and Udhampur Lok Sabha seats. The Congress has fielded its candidates in these two seats this time, as a part of its pre-poll alliance with the NC. Interestingly, the PDP has not nominated candidates in both the seats.
In the previous election, the Congress’ Ghulam Nabi Azad had put up quite a fight against the BJP’s Jitendra Singh, losing the Udhampur seat by a rather modest margin of 60,976 votes. But the PDP candidate had also got 30,461 votes.
Similarly, the BJP candidate had defeated the Congress one by 2.57 lakh votes, even as the PDP candidate, too, received 1.75 lakh votes.
The PDP, thus, is looking to give the Congress an opportunity for a direct fight against the BJP.
Friendly Fight Against NC in Srinagar?
The high-profile seat of Srinagar has traditionally witnessed a face-off between the NC and PDP. This time, NC chairperson Farooq Abdullah is pitted against PDP's Aga Syed Mohsin.
In 2014, Mohsin, fighting as an Independent candidate, had managed about 16,000 votes, which was about a tenth of what the winning candidate from PDP had garnered. It is been speculated that the PDP has intentionally fielded a weak candidate against Abdullah. BJP's Khalid Jahangir is also in fray in Srinagar.
The Curious Case of Anantnag
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti is once again fighting the Anantnag seat. In probably the first-ever instance of both pre-poll allies nominating their candidates, Congress' Javed Ahmed Mir and NC's Hasnain Masoodi are both in contention.
Locals suggest that there is some resentment against Mufti since she had formed the state government in an alliance with the BJP. The NC and Congress candidates are expected to eat into each other’s votes, thus lending Mufti an advantage.
The aim is to have more number of representatives in the Lok Sabha, who belong to the regional parties.
"The Congress and BJP have strengthened their hold in the state, taking advantage of the fight between PDP and NC. This time, though, the two regional parties are aligning tactically to defeat the BJP and its allies," said Faisul Yasin, Executive Editor of Rising Kashmir.
How Does the Hurriyat Conference Fit in?
Within a week of the Pulwama attack of 14 February, the security arrangements of Hurriyat leaders were revoked. In fact, the Hurriyat leaders had never demanded security and they were provided the same so that the government's agencies could keep a tab on them.
Earlier, in March 2015, formation of the PDP-BJP alliance in the state had got Hurriyat leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to resolve their differences. In 2016, they formed a common platform called Joint Resistance Forum.
Experts suggest that ban on organisations like Jamaat-e-Islaami and JKLF would further fuel militancy in the state.
The six seats of Jammu and Kashmir would vote in five phases with Baramulla and Jammu seats kicking off the process in the first phase on 11 April.
(This story was originally published on Hindi Quint)
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