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No end to deadlock on government formation in Kashmir

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mufti-amit-omar

Srinagar: Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Tuesday said no breakthrough is expected in the near future over the formation of new government.

PDP chief spokesperson Naeem Akhtar said no serious conclusion has been drawn so far over the formation of new government and the deadlock is likely to continue.

Mehbooba Mufti Tuesday left for Jammu to meet Governor, N N Vohra, for the government formation. “Don’t expect any breakthrough soon after the meet. She has left for a discussion over the present political scenario that has emerged in the state after the results of the state elections of 2014,” Akhtar said. “The talks with all political parties is going on with no final decision made over the issue.”

“It is an evolving situation and not concrete has come to fore yet. The situation continues to remain the same,” said the spokesperson. “The deadlock is not expected to end in the near future.”

He also maintained that Mehbboba-Vohra meeting should not be expected as the final point in ending the deadlock as the party is yet to take final call over entering into a coalition with any other party. “You cannot term it a final step. The discussions are going on and shall continue till final decision is made,” Akhtar said.

The PDP was part of a coalition that ruled the region between 2002 and 2008. Poll pundits suggest that the party is again likely to form the next government in coalition with other political groups and some independents.

People’s Democratic Party has 28 seats and gained seven seats as compared to the 2008 elections. BJP has gained 14 seats in this time election.

National Conference lost 15 seats and most of them from the summer capital Srinagar. Earlier the party had 28 members but this time the results have squeezed it to mere 15. The Congress got 12 seats in its kitty.

Both the BJP and the PDP benefited from widespread public discontent over the ruling National Conference’s handling of devastating September floods that killed more than 200 people in Kashmir.

(KNS)

BJP wants to rule Kashmir – with Hindu chief minister

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the party's Central Election Committee meeting for the upcoming Assembly elections, in New Delhi on Sunday. Photo: PTI

File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the party’s Central Election Committee meeting during the J&K Assembly elections, in New Delhi. Photo: PTI

Srinagar/Jammu: The BJP declared Thursday that it was determined to govern Jammu and Kashmir amid speculation that the National Conference would ally with it if the BJP didn’t insist on a Hindu chief minister for the country’s only Muslim-majority state.

BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Ram Madhav made known the party’s intentions separately in Jammu and Srinagar, with the latter saying he was in the state to explore various options on government formation after elections led to a hung 87-member assembly.

The BJP and the National Conference, the second and third largest groups in the house with 25 and 15 members, denied they were in secret talks. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which won 28 seats, was reportedly looking at both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress as possible allies.

Jammu and Kashmir must have a BJP-led government, party general secretary Ram Madhav said, adding he was in Srinagar to explore the various options.

Ram Madhav told reporters: “The BJP has the mandate to lead the government in Jammu and Kashmir. I am here to explore the options.”

He added that he was meeting representatives from different parties but did not provide details.
“We are open to discussions, and meetings can be had with the prime minister also in this regard,” he added, two days after the BJP emerged as the second largest group in the Kashmir assembly for the first time.

BJP sources told IANS that talks between the National Conference and the BJP had hit a roadblock because of the BJP’s insistence on having a Hindu chief minister.

In Jammu, Finance Minister Jaitley said the BJP would play a prominent role in government formation and the decision on its exact nature had been left to party president Amit Shah.

Briefing reporters after meeting newly-elected BJP legislators, Jaitley underlined that his party got the largest popular vote in the state though it contested from only 76 of the 87 constituencies.

He said the BJP was in touch with “independent and unattached” legislators.

“Whatever government is formed, the BJP should have a prominent role in the political process as the popular mandate in terms of highest vote is with us,” he said.

The National Conference, the sources said, was ready to support and even join a BJP-led coalition on the condition that the BJP gives up its demand for a Hindu chief minister.

At the same time, the PDP, while keeping its options open vis-a-vis the BJP, had sent feelers to Sajad Lone that he could be a deputy chief minister if he backed a PDP-Congress coalition, the sources said.

Sajad Lone’s People’s Conference has won two seats. Congress candidates were elected from 15 constituencies.

Another independent, Hakim Yaseen, has denied media reports that he had announced support for a BJP-led government.

Seven independents have also been elected to the assembly. A group of parties will need the support of 44 members to form a government.

Earlier, Ram Madhav denied a meeting had taken place between the National Conference and the BJP leadership.

Outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been in New Delhi since Wednesday, retweeted Ram Madhav’s statement.

Some reports say the BJP would get the chief minister’s post for a full six years while Abdullah would join the union cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A PDP spokesperson said the reports were meant to mount pressure on it to reach an early post-election agreement with the BJP. “As of now, we have decided to wait and watch,” the spokesperson told IANS.

All the BJP legislators were elected from the Hindu-majority Jammu region while almost all PDP and National Conference legislators won from the largely Muslim Kashmir Valley.

(IANS)

Hung verdict puts NC, PDP in quandary

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Omar Abdullah Mehbooba Mufti

Srinagar: The fractured mandate in Jammu and Kashmir has left both NC and arch-rivals PDP caught in a cleft stick — with second-placed BJP appearing to be their sole saviour.

With 15 seats, the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (NC) is out of power, but it has an option of supporting the BJP and thereby keeping its arch-rival the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) out of power for the next six years.

The PDP’s dilemma is even bigger. With 28 seats it has fallen short of its estimated projection of getting closer to 44, the simple majority needed to form the government.

The PDP’s problem is also compounded by the fact that its most likely future ally, the Congress, has got just 12 seats. The two together have only 40 seats — still short of the vaunted mark by four.

The vote count of the staggered five-phase assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir took place Tuesday.

There are seven independents who have won. Two of these are with Sajad Lone’s People’s Conference whose proximity to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is well known.

Barring the PDP, Sajad’s party will support anyone.

Saeed Mohammed Bakir Rizvi, the lone independent candidate from Zanskar constituency of Ladakh region, has won with NC support and cannot support the PDP.

Pawan Kumar Gupta, the lone independent candidate from Udhampur, is a BJP dissident and is likely to return to the party.

Then there is Yusuf Tarigami of the CPM against whom the NC had not fielded a candidate.

This leaves Hakim Yaseen and Engineer Rashid, the other independent candidates who would support any dispensation that provides power to them. Many, however, believe Engineer Rashid might support no alliance.

This leaves just two possibilities, the PDP aligning with the BJP or the NC aligning with the BJP.

The PDP would have to compromise if it is forced to align with the BJP and the most difficult of such a compromise would be the BJP’s push for a Hindu chief minister for at least half the term if the alliance is worked out on a three-year rotational basis.

On the other hand, the NC can keep the PDP out by supporting the BJP, but Omar Abdullah would be the biggest opponent of such a move even if his father, the NC president, Farooq Abdullah advised him to be more friendly to the BJP now that the hype raised against each other by the NC and the BJP during election campaign was over.

It is a catch-22 situation for the NC and the PDP and gives the controlling handle to the BJP that has 25 seats.

Ram Madhav, BJP national general secretary, is arriving here Thursday to spell out his party’s terms to both the NC and the PDP — if either of them is willing to cobble up a ruling alliance with the BJP.

Madhav will first meet Omar Abdullah and later call on Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, the PDP patron.

Omar has left for winter capital Jammu to submit his resignation to Governor N.N. Vohra before he flies back to Srinagar for his meeting with Ram Madhav.

(IANS)

As hundreds are detained, Kashmir set to vote tomorrow

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Over a million voters registered with the Election Commission of India in 15 assembly segments of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions are expected to exercise their franchise on Tuesday.

Over a million voters registered with the Election Commission of India in 15 assembly segments of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions are expected to exercise their franchise on Tuesday.

Srinagar: The first phase of voting for the state assembly elections is set to be held on Tuesday in Kashmir where the ruling party is facing a rout by the opposition.

Over a million voters registered with the Election Commission of India in 15 assembly segments of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions are expected to exercise their franchise on Tuesday for deciding the fate of the ruling party which has been marred by charges of corruption, misgovernance and rights abuses.

“12 sitting MLAs, including seven ministers, are among 123 candidates trying their luck in 15 constituencies that will go to polls on Tuesday,” PTI news agency reported.

“More than 200 battalions of central forces have been deployed in 15 constituencies to ensure there is no violence on the day of elections,” a senior Jammu Kashmir Police officer who didn’t wish to be named.

Authorities have also launched a crackdown against anti-election protesters and Hurriyat leaders to ensure incident-free polls with over 300 detentions made every week, as per as a report in Indian Express.

Capitalizing on the anti-incumbency wave against chief minister Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and buoyed by the victory in the recent Lok Sabha elections – the party won three out of six seats in the region, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) is hoping to form the next government which will be a historic first in the Muslim majority state.

The party has reportedly set up its base in a hotel in Srinagar where a team of BJP strategists are working closely to increase their party’s membership in the Kashmir Valley under “Mission 44+”, but many political analysts and journalists say it is going to be a “tough road” ahead for the party.

The PDP which won three Lok Sabha seats in the recent parliamentary elections in Kashmir Valley was emerging as a strong contender to form the next government but the September 7 floods and some controversial inducts into the party took away the sheen from its poll prospects.

“We will form the next government in the state,” a PDP spokesperson said.

Officials say there has been less violence ahead of elections in the region as compared to previous elections which may encourage people who have traditionally stayed away from polling booths to come out and vote.

“The situation has been peaceful and we are hoping that calm prevails till the end of polling day,” Shah Faisal, the district administrator of Bandipora which is going to polls on Tuesday, said.

He said 74 battalions of central forces have been deployed in Bandipora where 24 candidates are in the fray with 13 from Bandipora, 7 from Sumbal and 4 from Gurez.

The Hurriyat leaders including pro-Pakistan Syed Ali Geelani and pro-independence Yasin Malik have called for a general strike on Tuesday in protest against the election.

Nearly 1800 polling stations have been set up in the region and the polling will begin at 8 am.

No party may get majority in J&K, BJP to emerge on top in Jharkhand: surveys

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BJP

New Delhi: No party may get a clear majority in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, an opinion poll by a news channel has claimed while two other surveys on Jharkhand polls show that BJP is likely to emerge on top in the state.

As per the opinion poll conducted by Hindi channel – News Nation India – in Jammu and Kashmir, none of the political parties is likely to get a clear majority.

The survey by the channel projected that PDP is likely to get 31-36 seats and emerge on top in J & K, followed by BJP with 23-28 seats in the 87-strong assembly.

It gives ruling National Conference 7-11 seats and Congress 8-12 seats.

In Jharkhand, the same channel’s opinion poll predicts that BJP may get majority in the 81-member assembly with 42-46 seats followed by JMM 14 to 18 seats.

Another opinion poll, by ABP News-Nielsen projected that BJP and its allies LJP-AJSU are likely to get around 37 seats in Jharkhand, short of the majority-mark.

BJP on its own is likely to get around 30 seats in the state while Congress, RJD and JD(U) are together likely to get 23 seats, the opinion poll projected.

As per the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, more than 80 percent of respondents have rated the performance of PM Narendra Modi as very good or good.

(PTI)

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