Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 23 July 2018 | страница 15

when the BJP’s state unit admitted that
some PDP legislators approached it,
Ram Madhav insisted his party is for
continuing with Governor’s rule in the
Valley in the interest of peace, govern-
ance and development.
Blaming Delhi for creating a rebel
group in her party, Mehbooba warns
that the Kashmiri people’s trust in
Indian democracy will be eroded if her
party is split and Lone or somebody
else is appointed the CM. Omar says
the BJP’s guiding philosophy is power
at any cost. However, there is a consen-
sus that almost nobody in Kashmir
shed tears over the fall of the PDP-BJP
government. In fact, there was jubila-
tion among many sections, especially
visible on social media.
“When Mehbooba says Delhi is doing
it (fomenting rebellion in the PDP),
does she know she is branding all dis-
senters in her party as stooges of Delhi?
Thousands have been killed due to such
irresponsible utterances,” says Ansari,
reflecting the larger security-domi-
nated discourse in the Valley, where
everything originating from Delhi is
seen with suspicion.
According to one of the PDP rebels,
Yasir Reshi, a member of the Legislative
Council, legislators moving away from
the PDP, the NC or the Congress are
doing it on their own, with intelligence
agencies playing no role in it. “Don’t we
have the ability to think for ourselves?”
he asks. “Why do they always bring up
the role of agencies, giving an impres-
sion that raising voice against family
rule is an intelligence operation, which
should be discredited. When in power,
the two families speak a different lan-
guage. Don’t you remember what
Mehbooba said about stone-throwing
youth when she was CM? And look at
her statements today. They don’t
match. We should always remember we
have integrated with India, not just
when in power, but also when out of it.”
Coming to what he claims is the real
reason for the turmoil in the PDP,
Reshi says the new crop of legislators
is not interested in family rule. “Across
the world, people have fought against
kings and family rule. Why should we
expect the people of Kashmir to keep
family raj intact?” he asks. “That is
also Omar’s fear. He and Mehbooba
are not up there because of extraordi-
nary intelligence or a people-friendly
PTI
PARTY FAMILY Ex-CMs Omar Abdullah of NC (left); Mehbooba Mufti of PDP
approach. Mehbooba almost tried to
end the political career of Muzaffer
Hussain Baig, an int­elligent lawyer and
able PDP leader. She kept him out of
circulation for a long time.”
Baig has not uttered a word since the
PDP legislators, six so far, began speak-
ing out openly against Mehbooba.
G
OING by J&K’s anti-defection law,
the PDP rebels need two-thirds of
the MLAs—19 out of 28—to elect a
new leader. In 2011, the BJP had
invoked the law when it sought disqual-
ification of seven of its members for
voting against the party candidate in
the Legislative Council election. The
party couldn’t disqualify them until the
term ended in 2014 as the matter rem­
ained pending in court.
“In case the BJP stakes claim to form
the government, with 12 PDP members
supporting it and some others from the
Congress and the NC abstaining during
the confidence vote, the BJP will make
it as only the votes of those present will
be counted,” says former J&K advo-
cate-general Jehangir Ganai.
Reshi says the new front in the mak-
ing will be a threat to both Mehbooba
and the NC. “Who will vote for the PDP
“Who will vote for the
PDP or the NC if a new
grouping led by a
dynamic leader comes to
the fore?” asks MLC
Yasir Reshi, a PDP rebel.
or the NC if a new grouping led by a
dynamic leader comes to the fore? You
will see different Kashmir in the
months ahead. We will not keep
Kashmiris hostage to false promises.
We can sit in Opposition, but we won’t
lie to the people,” promises Reshi.
Lone is most likely to be anointed
leader of this prospective formation.
Mehbooba’s party is seemingly in tat-
ters. With a strong voter base in his
constituency of Kupwara, Lone and his
like-minded friends can cobble up an
alliance that will see a new electoral
force emerging in Kashmir. It would
pose a grave challenge to the NC too­­—a
tough test indeed for the oldest party in
Kashmir, founded by Omar’s grand­
father, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, .
A senior PDP leader says Mehbooba
didn’t allow any room to the BJP in
J&K and didn’t let the BJP to move