Political heat rising up ahead of Assembly polls

Mehbooba meets Guv, State gets first pre-poll alliance

JAMMU: With the assembly elections in the state likely to be held after the Amarnath Yatra this year, the political heat is rising up in Jammu and Kashmir.

While BJP and Congress remained focused in enhancing their vote share for past few weeks, the PDP chief and previous chief minister Mehbooba Mufti called on Governor Satya Pal Malik on the eve of the completion of one year since her government fell, even as the State got its first pre-poll alliance between newly-floated Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement headed by former bureaucrat Shah Faesal with the Awami Ittehad Party led by former MLA Sheikh Abdul Rasheed.

On Tuesday, Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti drove to Raj Bhavan where she met Governor Satya Pal Malik and discussed with the politicial situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

It was Mehbooba’s government which fell on June 19 last year when her ally BJP withdrew its support from PDP, leading to imposition of Governor’s rule.

In her meeting today, Mehbooba is learnt to discussed with Governor Malik the present political scenario and its revival, especially a year after the absence of a democratically-elected government.
“The former chief minister shared her views about the present political and socio-economic situation in the state with the governor,” an official spokesperson said.

"They also discussed various issues relating to the growth and development of the state," the Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir got its first pre-poll alliance between Faesal’s Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement and Awami Ittehad Party of Sheikh Abdul Rasheed.

Faesal and Rasheed announced the pre-poll alliance at a crowded press conference here, naming the coalition as the Peoples United Front (PUF).

Former PDP leader Javed Mustafa Mir, who joined hands with Faesal earlier this year, said the two parties have decided to forge the pre-poll alliance owing to the prevailing situation and political uncertainty in the state.

"There are assaults on the special position of the state and there is a lack of credible political alternative. There is no political force that can give good governance and fill the political vacuum," Mir told reporters.

Mir has been appointed as the head of the three-member coordination committee of the PUF.
The new formation released a 45-point "common agenda for the alliance" aimed at pursuing and facilitating "the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in its historical context as per the will, aspirations and sacrifices of the people of erstwhile J&K state".

The agenda also aims at supporting all confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan to secure relief for the people on both sides of the Line of Control.

Addressing the regional aspirations, undoing the erosion of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, facilitating the return of Kashmiri Pandits and release of all political detenues are other main goals of the agenda of the new alliance.

Former MLA from Langate, Rasheed said the agenda of the two parties is that of hope and they will not let the people down.

Right now, we feel really let down due to lack of credible leadership, he said.

Rasheed unsuccessfully contested the recent Lok Sabha polls from Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency but put in a splendid show by taking lead in five of the 15 assembly segments that constitute the parliamentary seat.

Faesal, who quit the government service in January this year, had extended support to Rasheed's candidature.

The 2010 UPSC examination topper had expressed willingness to contest the Lok Sabha polls at the time of resigning but later decided against it.

Several young and aspiring politicians including former JNU student leader Shehla Rashid have joined Faesal's JKPM since its formation this March.

It may be recalled that while BJP is aiming to add up 20 lakh people as its primary members before the elections, the Congress which bit dust in recently held Lok Sabha elections is revisiting its strategies before the assembly polls. Both the parties’ leaders are meeting regularly to discuss their further plans since past few weeks.