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| Kashmir's election scene | | Pandit voters to determine fate of parties | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 16: Pandit voters this time will play a very crucial role in the Kashmir Valley and determine the fate of political parties in about a dozen assembly constituencies. That's the reason the ruling NC and the Congress and opposition parties -- the PDP and the BJP -- are doing their best to woo the Pandit voters. However, the stakes of the PDP and the BJP are very high, as both the parties are the front runners, with the NC and the Congress virtually out of the fray. The number of internally-displaced Kashmiri Hindus is not very substantial. There are only 92,000 internally displaced Kashmiri Pandit voters and yet they can make or mar the poll prospects of candidates in about a dozen constituencies in the Valley. Such is the importance of these one lakh0dd voters.
The constituencies where the internally displaced Kashmiri Hindu voters can determine the poll outcome include Habbakadal, Ganderbal, Kulgam, Anantnag, Tral, Amirakadal, Sopore and Khanyar. These assembly segments have considerable number of displaced Hindu voters. It is for the first time after their exodus from the Valley in early 1990 that the political parties have understood the political importance of the internally displaced Kashmiri Hindus knowing it full well that their vote would go a long way in ensuring the victory of their candidates or in the government formation. These voters will exercise their right to vote for the constituencies they hail from through postal ballot. Besides, for them the Election Commission has decided to set up 26 special polling stations in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.
The two parties which are depending greatly on these displaced Kashmiri Hindu voters are the PDP and the BJP. The BJP in particular is banking on their support. However, what has been keeping the leadership of the non-BJP parties in Kashmir is the boycott call given by various separatist outfits. They believe that if the militants succeed in their game plan, their candidates would be the losers and the BJP would be able to capture a few seats. Leaders like Omar Abdullah, who also holds the Home portfolio, are fully aware of this fact and that's why they are urging extremists like Syed Ali Shah Geelani to withdraw their boycott call telling them that their boycott call would help the BJP establish its foothold in the Valley.
It is important to note that hitherto the Kashmiri Hindu voters had only two options: either vote for the Congress or the NC. There was no third or fourth choice. The emergence of the PDP and the decision of the BJP to contest the assembly election in Kashmir in a big way has changed the election scene there to the extent that the NC, the Congress and separatists of all hues have feeling the heat convinced that the victory of the BJP in Kashmir even in a few constituencies would change the Valley's politics.
It would be interesting to see which way the internally-displaced Kashmiri Hindu voters would go. But one thing is certain: The Valley is all set to spring surprises. |
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