JOIN USWith the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance forming the new government in Jammu and Kashmir earlier this month, the coalition has certainly come with its share of possibilities. But for all the lure of a PDP-BJP coalition and its apparent vulnerability in the given situation, it is also the most problematic.
Ideological differences apart, which are too fundamental in nature to be easily reconciled, the two parties can find even the everyday operation of the coalition difficult to handle.
The pull of their respective constituencies, politically and aspirationally an anti-thesis of each other, can more often than not force them to plough in opposite directions.
How difficult the road ahead for the alliance would be was evident on the very first day of the government, when PDP patriarch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed started his tenure as chief minister on a controversial note by crediting Pakistan, the separatists and the militants for the peaceful conduct of last year’s Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mufti’s assertion was not a slip of tongue but a deliberate attempt to address his constituency in the valley where the PDP-BJP alliance is being viewed as a “sell-out” by his party to grab power.
This created a furore from Kashmir to Delhi with the Opposition Congress asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain his position on Mufti’s controversial statement. Modi had to distance himself from Mufti’s assertions by making a strong statement in the Rajya Sabha.
“If somebody makes a statement somewhere and we are forced to respond here, things will not work,” said Modi, conveying subtly to Mufti that such utterances will make the smooth-running of the J&K coalition difficult.
It is no secret that the PDP-BJP coalition is a marriage of convenience as during the poll campaigning, Modi had rallied against both the PDP and its arch rival the National Congress (NC) in Srinagar, saying “Kabhi baap-bete ki sarkar (Kashmiris have either seen a father-son government), kabhi baap-beti ki sarkar (or a father-daughter government).”
On the other hand the ‘Papa-Daughter Party’ or the PDP had rallied voters, citing the spectre of a BJP government in the Valley. However, after the fractured mandate in the Assembly polls, Mufti was keen on an alliance with the BJP.
He made his intentions known by rejecting outright the unconditional offers of support from the Congress and the National Conference. After entering into an alliance with the BJP, Mufti described it as a meeting of the North Pole and the South Pole.
It will be interesting to see how the alliance partners manage their contradictions. If the PDP and the BJP can leverage the development plank to build a solid bridge between Jammu and Kashmir regions, the alliance would make a lasting contribution to the state. In spite of the sharp reactions and predictions of gloom and doom, the alliance between the BJP and the PDP could bridge the divide between its Hindus and Muslims and bring the two regions closer.
Fomenting regional rivalryThe genesis of several of Kashmir’s problems in the past had to do with the rivalry between the people of Jammu and those in the Valley. The divide was always fomented by the regional parties (the NC, and the PDP) and the national parties (the BJP and the Congress) for their own interests. However, the problem has become a part of the solution this time. It is unlikely that the BJP will do anything to undermine its own government, especially when it has made huge ideological compromises to fulfil its dream of being part of the Kashmir government. The PDP hopes to enlarge its base vertically and horizontally across the state to meet the competing regional aspirations. While the right-wing BJP aims to increase its footprints in Jammu and Kashmir to be in a position where it can comfortably push in its Hindutva agenda, it conveniently overlook the regional aspirations which it has not as vociferously talked about as its contentious issues. These desires would obviously tempt the two to be engaged in a constant tussle to go one up against each other. So, will the two parties be able to stick to the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) for now or will they be able to resist the temptation of furthering their own larger goals, making it difficult to govern and adding to the divisive polity of the state, rather than bridging it?
What will matter is not the PDP joining the BJP, but how the coalition operates on the ground –that is, when the rubber meets the road. The secret to their success will be walking the precarious knife edge between ‘ghar wapsi’ and ‘love jihad.’
The common people, who had suffered during Omar Abdullah’s comatose administration, expect relief and rehabilitation on a war footing. Everything in Kashmir, from power to roads, and above all the environment, is in shambles. The most immediate task is prevention of future floods which has so far been totally neglected resulting in some fresh breaches and water-logging in the city. Another nightmare which has visited Kashmir recently is the swine flu. It has created a worse scare than the unprecedented flood.
The only strong case for a PDP-BJP government is its apparent capacity to provide a good government in terms of funds and development. In allying with the BJP, the PDP will be up against a lot of history, baggage, agenda, ideology and of course, everyday dilemmas which, if not handled to the expectations of its constituency, could decimate the party.
The need for both the PDP and the BJP, more than ever, is to rise above their short-term party interests and think about the larger good of the state. A slip this time could put the state on the road to a fresh spell of uncertainty and turmoil, for which the people are unlikely to forgive the party or the parties responsible.