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| Why Mehbooba is reluctant to assume power | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Feb 4: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti is reluctant to re-tie up with the BJP. That's the reason she has adopted a rigid stand and set very tough conditions for government formation. Her fundamental conditions are two. One is that she will assume office only after the Prime Minister of India gave in writing that her father's vision and the agenda of alliance will be translated into reality within a timeframe. The other is that she be given a freehand to run the government.
Now the question to be asked is: Why such a rigid stand and so many pre-condition? There are reasons for that. For example, she knew that things for her party in the Kashmir Valley, the PDP's core constituency, are so inspiring and promising. The party during the ten months (March-December, 2015), when Mufti Sayeed was at the helm, had lost most of its sheen and appeal. And what Kashmir witnessed on January 8, the day Mufti Sayeed was burried in his own hometown, Bijbehara, cleared all the doubts and established that the Mufti family didn't command the kind of respect it commanded before it entered into an alliance with the BJP to form coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir.
There was little participation of people in the funeral procession of Mufti Sayeed. Only about 3,000 people assembled at the graveyard. Even the people of his own hometown didn't close down their business establishments as a mark of respect. Obviously, the thin attendance stunned Mehbooba Mufti and her associates. It is no wonder that she adopted the line on government formation she adopted on January 31 and February 2.
Two other factors forced her to adopt a very hard stand. One is the internal party feud in PDP. Two founding members of PDP, MPs Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and Tariq Hameed Karra, have been critics of the alliance. But they are not alone in their opposition to the idea of re-stitching an alliance with the BJP. Second rung leaders of the party are also with them. They are in favor of seeking a fresh mandate from people and ending the coalition with the BJP.
The other is the National Conference of Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah, both former Chief Ministers. Ever since the demise of Mufti Sayeed on January 7, both the father and son duo have been accusing Mehbooba Mufti of being an agent of New Delhi and dubbing the PDP as "anti-Kashmir" and power hungry". Their whole objective has been to provoke Mehbooba Mufti to re-stitch an alliance with the BJP and lead the State Government. They knew such a step on her part would be political hara-kiri and advantageous to the National Conference, which has been struggling since 2002 to regain the space it lost to the PDP. The National Conference, which won 57 out of 87 seats in the 1996 Assembly elections, could win only 28 seats each in 2002 and 2008. Its tally came down to just 15 in 2014.
These are the three main reasons behind the reluctance of Mehbooba Mufti. The fact that during her meeting with local party leaders in Jammu didn't even once raise the issue of government formation suggests that she would secure her position and bring the disparate flock on board before taking the final plunge. Indeed, it's a difficult time for her. |
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