Anil Anand
One nation, one poll like Presidential form of government has all along been on the agenda of the BJP. Both the issues found occasional mention among the broader Sangh Parivar including its political arm BJP even during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee rule through its eagle-face L K Advani. But it could never go beyond a mention here or there. Though it was embedded in their heart true to their belief in everything unitary rather than federal.
The issue-one nation, one election- is on the centrestage now with Narendra Modi government announcing an eight-member committee of the like-minded. The only exception was the Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary who expectedly chose to reject the offer.
However, the biggest surprise is the appointment of a former President Ram Nath Kovind- an unprecedented move never before happened in Independent India. Yet another surprise but not entirely unexpected was the nomination of former Congress veteran and founder of Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad to the committee.
Since Mr Azad has not reacted either way, acceptance or rejection, it is a foregone conclusion that his concurrence was on before taking him onboard. Up till now he has been vehemently denying his detractors’ charge of being in some “understanding” with the BJP. But, ever since the formation of DPAP he has done nothing to show his independent progression in politics of Jammu and Kashmir as his new party is Union Territory-centric.
The inclusion of his name in the one nation, one poll committee is a vindication of what his detractors had been alleging. The fact that the panel is packed with the voices either soft or favourably inclined towards the ruling dispensation add to the vindication theory.
It is always out-of-place to predict anyone’s death-knell in politics. Has it happened in Mr Azad’s case?
He has been harping to chart out a new constituency for himself in Jammu and Kashmir. Barring initial few months when he held out a promise to provide a new alternative with his clean and nationalist image being an advantage, he had turned a suspect in the eyes of people whom he was cherishing to be his vote-bank- mostly in his native Chenab valley and Kashmir region, of being a BJP acolyte. And other segments, cutting across religion and caste lines, who saw in him a new alternative and a whiff of fresh air.
Proverbially speaking the cat is out of the bag. None other than Mr Azad himself has vindicated the story and cleared all these doubts regarding his proximity to BJP big-wigs. And that the DPAP was part of the Centre’s new political experiment in the newly carved out Union Territory (UT).
As it is Mr Azad had already courted a controversy in relevant areas in the UT through his statement regarding origin of Muslims in India particularly Jammu and Kashmir in relation to conversions. The outrage led him to release a video message clarifying his position and that he was quoted “out of context”. His membership of the committee under the prevailing circumstances and given the background of the contentious issue will certainly make things more difficult for him politically.
Why did Congress deny him another term in Rajya Sabha? At that point in time the grand-old party faced severe criticism and the prime target was Mr Rahul Gandhi who the critics had alleged was instrumental in denying him renomination to the Upper House of Parliament and thereby rocking the party. Subsequently, Mr Azad had headed Group 20 of Congress rebels, and ultimately to be left alone.
The renewal of allotment of his Lutyens zone bungalow earlier on without being a member of Parliament, and now the membership of this elite committee confirmed beyond any doubt that someone in the Congress had a premonition of which way the wind was going to blow. Not surprising if it was Mr Gandhi who has been proved right on many issues ranging from Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese incursions and may be the Azad episode.
Whether and when assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir, it is an unpredictable area. It has further got embroiled in mystery after the Centre’s none-too-clear stand on this issue before the Supreme Court during the course of hearing on petitions related to Article 370 and 35 A.
Will the formation of the committee pave the way for holding Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections and some other states alongside the Lok Sabha polls?
It will be a hard proposition for Mr Azad particularly contesting assembly elections. The party will be celebrating one year of its existence on September 26. It is still to have an election symbol as the issue of its registration with the Election Commission of India is mired in a mystery.
In this backdrop Mr Azad could be hardly considered as the voice or representation of the opposition in the committee nor could he be taken as an independent Muslim face for this purpose. Notwithstanding his national stature and a veteran politician, his membership of the panel could only be attributed to his proximity to the powers that be.
It will be interesting to see what role does he play as member of the committee. Of late, known to assert his position and take stand on issues, contrary to his earlier self, will he continue with the newly acquired streak or decide to toe the official line. In either way, it will have a lot of bearing on his image and future politics.
So, why a special session of Parliament now? Why setting up of a committee to explore the issue at the fag end of Modi-02 rule? Why not earlier to have a meaningful debate on the contentious issues in a wider time-frame?
The setting up of the committee when the government is about to complete its second term without either consulting or giving proper representation to opposition parties, raises serious doubts about the real intent behind the exercise. In this context bringing in Mr Azad along with couple of other “like-minded” persons naturally raises doubts. The only clarity is that the government wishes to have its way on this crucial issue that entails constitutional amendments of far-reaching consequences.
The government seems to be in a hurry either to give the issue a finality or at least make it a strong debating issue in order to capture and divert the public mind from pressing national issues ahead of the coming election season. The hurry is reflected from the manner in which the BJP chief J P Nadda rushed to meet Kovind after he was named as the committee chairman, followed by a statement by Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Prahlad Joshi that the panel’s report will be discussed in Parliament.
Did he indicate discussing the report in the special session of Parliament beginning on September 18? Well, the indicators point towards this direction with officials of the Law Ministry having already met Kovind to discuss the modalities. If so, will the committee be able to hold nation-wide debate with all the stakeholders in a short-span of time.
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