Bumpy road ahead for CM Mehbooba

The best thing about the swearing-in of Mehbooba Mufti as the chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir is that the state has got a democratically elected government. The fact that the socially conservative state has got a woman head of government is also important, but Mehbooba has already won acceptability as a political leader under the shadow of her father, the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and on her own. There was a long period of uncertainty after Mufti’s death when Mehbooba debated the options for her and the party, and perhaps, wanted to send out a message that she was in no hurry to assume power. She also probably wanted to extract some concessions from the Centre, as her coalition partner, the BJP, is at the helm there. It is not known if any promises have been made to her but she has, in any case, decided to go in for the obvious choice before her.

That presents many challenges to her and her government. Running a coalition government with the BJP as a partner is the first challenge. The chief minister’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP have very different worldviews and policies. The government is an alliance of convenience and the two parties have not come closer during the one year they were together in power. In fact, the divergence of positions on many issues had affected the functioning of the government. The leaders of both parties will have to take pains to ensure that they work together better this time. Mehbooba also has a political task keeping her own party together. There is a section within the party which feels that an alliance with the BJP is not good for it. She will have to prove to them that the party would not lose any of its core support base and would not be seen as having compromised for power.

The most difficult challenge is on the administrative front. Mehbooba may have been in politics for long but has no administrative experience. The state has many issues waiting to be tackled by an effective government. The militancy situation has worsened. There are persistent complaints of human rights violations. There are other issues related to development, employment, health and education on which a responsive government has to deliver to the people. The distress caused by the 2014 floods is still continuing. The growing gulf between the three regions of the state – the Valley, Jammu and Ladakh – needs to be bridged. All these are big challenges which can be turned into good opportunities by the new government.