The much anticipated coming together of Engineer Rashid’sAwami Itehad Party (AIP) and Shah Feasal’s Jammu & Kashmir People’sMovement (JKPM) in the form of “People’s United Front” (PUF)” as a pre pollalliance has created ripples in muddy waters of Kashmir valley’s extremelycompetitive electoral politics. The ramifications of this alliance are not onlybeing felt by two main Kashmir based parties – National Conference (NC) andPeople’s Democratic Party (PDP) but also by Sajad Lone’s People’s Conference(PC), which is a major political player in North Kashmir.
The question that arises is that – Will PUF be able tochallenge the dominance of parties like NC, PDP and PC in Kashmir valley andcarve out a space for itself in the ever-changing dynamic field of Kashmir’selectoral politics? The last time, J&K state had a pre-poll alliance was in1987, when Congress and NC allied together in a controversial and disastrousmove that pushed Kashmir valley into never ending cycle of violence, death anddestruction, with allegations of rampant poll rigging levelled against the NCfor trying to stop the newly created – Muslim United Front, a political wing ofKashmir’s Jamaat-e-Islami from winning majority of seats in Kashmir valley andcapturing power in J&K assembly.
However, unlike Congress – NC alliance of 1987, which wasseen as an alliance of Jammu led Congress and Kashmir led NC, the PUF actuallycomprises of an alliance of purely Kashmir based political parties. Further,the main adversaries of PUF are also Kashmir based parties like NC & PC inNorth Kashmir and NC & PDP in Central and South Kashmir. At the heart ofthis alliance lie two different persons, who ventured into electoral politicsafter serving with state and central administrative system. While EngineerRashid left his job as construction engineer with semi government J&KProject Construction Company, Shah Feasal took plunge in electoral politicsafter resigning from his job as an IAS officer.
In their coming together as PUF, both Engineer Rashid andShah Feasal actually compliment each other. While Engineer Rashid has earnedtremendous popularity in Muslim majority regions of Kashmir valley as well asPir Panchal (Poonch & Rajouri) and Chenab valley (Doda & Kishtwar)regions of Jammu division, Shah Feasal on the other hand is making specialefforts to reach out to Hindu dominated regions of Jammu and Buddhist dominatedregions of Leh & Zanskar. Engineer Rashid himself can be seen of late,reaching out to non-Muslim communities like Kashmiri Pundits and Dogra Hindusto expand his support base and make his AIP much more inclusive.
The fact however remains that while Engineer Rashid hasalready shown his political mettle in recently held Lok Sabha elections, wherehe ended up leading or coming close second or third in 11 out of 15 assemblysegments of North Kashmir, the impact ofShah Feasal’s JKPM on ground is yet to be ascertained, though personal charismaof Shah Feasal in Lolab as well as among educated youth of Kashmir remainsundeniably strong.
The electoral performance of PUF in upcoming J&Kassembly elections will depend upon how effectively is it able to challenge itsmain political adversaries – NC, PDP and PC and convince the people of Kashmirthat PUF is a viable and credible political alternative to the traditionalmainstream parties. Ideally speaking, it will make more political sense, ifinstead of fighting all three – NC, PDP and PC together, the PUF focuses on its”real” political adversary – NC and PC (in North Kashmir).
Based on all indications from recently held Lok Sahbaelections, the PUF will be better served, if it focuses on defeating NC (and PCin North Kashmir) in a direct fight by facilitating unified fight against NC& PC, for which, it should ideally enter into “understanding” with the PDPto make sure that there is no division of votes against NC & PC. Forexample, in Gurez assembly segment of North Kashmir, where the PUF does nothave significant presence, it should allow PDP to take on NC in a direct fightwithout fielding any PUF candidate and thereby increasing chances of defeatingNC. The PUF must further work towards bringing other smaller parties ofstrongmen like Mohammad Yusuf Taragami of CPI(M) and Hakim Muhammad Yaseenunder a “mega alliance” of an expanded PUF, which could then emerge as a “thirdfront” of Kashmir’s electoral politics.
The strength of PUF lies in the fact that unlike traditionalmainstream parties of Kashmir valley, its constituent members don’t carryhistoric baggage of mis-governance, elitism, nepotism, corruption etc., whichhas plagued credibility of traditional mainstream parties of Kashmir. Also, oneneeds to keep in mind that the full scale of the impact of Engineer Rashid’s politicaloutreach is not known yet since he fought only from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.One doesn’t know as to how much of ground has, he gained in rest of Kashmirvalley, especially in Central Kashmir, where both AIP and PUF are expected tomake significant gains.
The fact that Engineer has been able to perform well notjust in Kashmiri Sunni dominated constituencies but also in Kashmiri Shia,Pahari Muslim and Gujjar & Bakarwal dominated constituencies point to hiswidespread reach, which can benefit the PUF outside North Kashmir in largeparts of Central Kashmir as well as Pir Panchal and Chenab valley.
Lastly, the significance of the emergence of PUF can begauged from the fact that political detractors of the PUF have already startedmaligning it by calling it a “sadhbhawana alliance” or a move to “divide”Kashmiri votes, all of which indicate to a growing political restlessness,especially in the camps of NC and PC. The fact however remains that “conspiracytheories” no longer determine the fate of Kashmir’s electoral politics. Thepeople of Kashmir want a new political discourse with new faces, who couldbring peace to Kashmir valley and resolution to Kashmir problem and they mightas well give PUF a chance.
(The author is a Political Activist and aspiring Politician,who has worked as PRO to Ex-CM of J&K. He holds MBA & MPA degrees,besides having many years of corporate work experience at some of topFortune-500 companies like INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES BANGALORE…)