National Conference President Farooq Abdullah with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti.
Credit: PTI File Photo
The statement of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah that seats held by I.N.D.I.A alliance members shouldn’t be open for discussion has given enough indications that the fate of the newly formed anti-BJP bloc in Jammu and Kashmir looks bleak.
Talking to reporters after I.N.D.I.A coordination committee’s first meeting, he said the seats already held by the I.N.D.I.A alliance members shouldn’t come up for discussion and only those seats held by BJP should come up for seat-sharing.
The meeting of the 14-member coordination committee of the INDIA bloc was held at the New Delhi residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls the NC had won all the three Parliament seats from Kashmir. If Omar’s assertions are any indication, the NC is not ready to share any seats with its arch-rival People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a constituent of the I.N.D.I.A.
Political observers believe that the NC wants to go solo in all elections in Jammu and Kashmir as it believes seat sharing may harm its prospects. The NC and the PDP are already the two main parties of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), which was formed after the Center abrogated J&K’s special status under Article 370 in August 2019.
However, the inherent contradictions within the two rival parties in J&K politics have surfaced in the open several times. Last year, the NC had declared that it will not ally with any constituent of the PAGD and will contest on all 90 Assembly seats of the Union Territory.
PDP chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari said whatever Omar has said is his view they have nothing to do with it.
“The PDP is in the INDIA alliance for a larger cause. What Omar Abdullah has said is his personal view,” he told DH.
Similarly, Bukhari said, they are in an alliance (PAGD) for a large ‘ideological cause’. “The PAGD’s aim is to strive for rights and dignity of people of Jammu and Kashmir and we are committed to that,” he added.