Intro: Omar praising Gandhi scion Rahul is nothing but an example of one dynasty reaching out to another; one failed generation favouring another failed generation.
The Jammu-Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and Congress led coalition government is ruling the state of J&K for the last six years. Under the provisions of Article 370, the J&K Legislative Assembly has term of six years compared to five year term in other states of India.
The Congress party is known for promoting ‘Dynasty’ culture in India. In J&K, from three generations, the NC is headed by Sheikh Abdullah’s family. These are the two political families to which Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) president Amit Shah was referring to while speaking in party’s National Council meeting on December 9, 2014. He said, “The condition in Jammu and Kashmir is very sad and the current government is running an establishment filled with corruption. It is not only the responsibility of state BJP activists but every state activist to ensure BJP wins there. Both the political families of J&K have misused the money meant for progress of state”, said BJP president.
This ruling coalition (JKNC-Congress) had on 20th July last month decided to part ways for the upcoming Assembly elections due later this year. The decision to end coalition was taken after the stunning defeat of both the parties in regions they considered favorable- Congress in Jammu and Ladakh and NC in Kashmir Valley. This defeat forced NC and Congress to think upon their strategy, whereafter, Congress decided to pull votes by blaming NC for all wrong doings, and NC decided to work in the Valley to consolidate Muslims votes.
The State Assembly elections are nearing and chances are rife that both the parties will go in for seat adjustments even without an alliance. In this light, one can conclude that the drama of separation post Lok Sabha (LS) polls was just an eyewash, because even after ending the coalition post elections, both the NC and Congress are still a part of the coalition government. Their engagement can be gauged from what Omar said about Rahul Gandhi even though he has plans to fight assembly elections against him.
“Rahul (Gandhi) has always been the one who has been keen to speak. The problem in the last ten years had been that it was his government at the Centre and that more often than not if he had spoken his minds, he ran the risk of being misunderstood. And therefore rightly so he kept his counsel to himself”, said Omar Abdullah on August 9, 2014 while reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s recent stance in Lok Sabha in which he said that communal violence in the country is on the rise and blamed BJP for it. He added further that, “Today he is in opposition and surely Rahul is the force that has the task to bind the congress in these difficult times. I am glad that he has spoken out in Parliament and believes he will continue to do so in the days to come.”
Omar applauding Rahul Gandhi is nothing but an example of one dynasty reaching out to another; one failed generation favoring another failed generation. For the last six years both the families have ruled the most funded state and have indulged in corruption. Before the Lok Sabha elections, the funding government at the center was the partner in the state and the friendship of Rahul did not favour probing corruption in the state.
It also reflects that Omar has not learnt the right lessons from the Lok Sabha Polls, nor does he seem to have taken note of the conclusion of political pundits who after the mandate of Lok Sabha elections stated that the times indicate the end of dynastic politics in India
Maybe, the State Assembly results will be an eye opener for Omar!
-Arvind (The writer is a researcher at J&K Study Center, New Delhi)
