Nishikant Khajuria
As Jammu and Kashmir goes to the Lok Sabha polls alongwith other parts of the country for general elections, both provinces of the Union Territory are apparently following their traditional response to national and regional political parties. While in Jammu division, main contest for both the Parliamentary constituencies seems between BJP and Congress, the two seats of Kashmir valley as well as Anantnag-Rajouri constituency apparently have prospects for candidates of regional parties only.
Ever since Independence, J&K political landscape has had remained dominated by the regional parties notwithstanding too much attention and meddling of the New Delhi in shaping establishment in this erstwhile State, which was re-organized into two Union Territories on August 5-6, 2019 when it was stripped of its special status granted under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
Though both the regions have experienced births of the regional parties, the Jammu based outfits could not survive for long and either got merged into national parties or almost diminished from the political scene.
Jammu Praja Parishad, which was founded by RSS activist Prof Balraj Madhok in 1947, spearheaded historic agitation of 1953 under the leadership of its President Pt Prem Nath Dogra for complete integration of J&K with the Indian Union thus representing aspirations of Jammu people. However, in the process of working closely with Dr Shama Prasad Mookerji’s Jansangh, Praja Parishad in 1963 merged itself into this national party, which later became Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).
Jammu State Morcha was floated in 2001 on the initiative of RSS for pursing the demand for separate statehood to Jammu region. However, JSM not only failed to emerge as a major force to represent Jammu, it also severely dented BJP prospects with the result the saffron party could secure only one seat in 2002 Assembly polls. In the previous Assembly elections of 1996, BJP had won seven seats and emerged as main opposition party in the J&K Lower House. Later, JSM also merged into BJP.
Jammu Kashmir National Panthers Party, which had emerged as a voice of Jammu and won four seats in 2002 Assembly polls, not only got reduced to zero by 2014 but also witnessed multiple splits after the death of its founder Prof Bhim Singh and subsequent freezing of its symbol as well as the name by the Election Commission of India in a recent order.
Dogra Swabhimaan Sangathan, led by Choudhary Lal Singh and IkkJutt Jammu by Advocate Ankur Sharma were the new outfits, which tried to emerge as the Jammu based regional political parties in the recent past. However, Lal Singh returned to Congress Party for a mandate from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituency while Ankur Sharma preferred to transform his regional outfit IkkJutt Jammu to pan India Ekam Bharat Sanatan Dal for the reasons best known to him.
On the other hand, the regional outfits that surfaced in Kashmir, not only survived but also thrived and dominated political landscape of the valley as well as the erstwhile state.
Originally founded as the Muslim Conference and later re-christened as the National Conference, the party of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was not only instrumental in ending dynastic rule of Royal Dogra family but also shaped Jammu and Kashmir’s politics. NC ruled J&K for maximum time and enjoyed public support not only in entire Kashmir but also Jammu belts as well as Ladakh division. Even as National Conference merged with the Indian National Congress in 1965 and became its J&K branch till release of Sheikh Mohd Abdullah from prison in 1975, it managed its presence in Kashmir valley through Plebiscite Front. Immediately after his release from jail and assuming power, Sheikh Abdullah revived NC.
In 1999, senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed floated People’s Democratic Party as alternative of National Conference. PDP soon came to power in alliance with Congress by trouncing National Conference in 2002 Assembly polls. Even as NC regained power in 2008 Assembly polls, PDP continued to increase its tally of seats from 16 to 21. In 2014 Assembly elections, PDP emerged as single largest party with 28 seats and formed Government after post poll alliance with BJP. However, the alliance between the two did not last long and the Government collapsed in 2018 after BJP withdrew its support.
Besides NC and PDP, People’s Conference-founded by late Abdul Gani Lone, Awami National Conference by former Chief Minister Late G M Shah, are the two regional parties having influence in some pockets of Kashmir. While the People’s Conference, now headed by Sajjad Gani Lone, is a strong force in North Kashmir and some other parts of the Valley, Awami National Conference failed to sustain itself as a political force after the death of G M Shah.
Since the collapse of PDP-BJP Government in 2018, Jammu & Kashmir has changed much because of abrogation of Article 370 and 35A besides re-organization of the State into two Union Territories. During this period, two more significant regional parties have surfaced on political landscape of J&K.
Once a close confident of Mufti Mohd Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti, Altaf Ahmed Bukhari floated a new political outfit Apni Party while Ghulam Nabi Azad quit Congress and formed Democratic Progressive Azad Party. Aspiring to play major role in J&K politics, both the parties are alleged to be B team of BJP. However, those dubbing Apni Party and DPAP as B team of BJP, have themselves remained in alliance with the saffron party in the past. Even as Apni Party as well as Ghulam Nabi Azad’s DPAP have presence in both the regions, main focus of both the parties is likely to remain on Kashmir, which is evident in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
In the present scenario, there will be five major regional parties in contest for Kashmir seats while Jammu is dominated by two national parties, BJP and Congress. Though DPAP fielded G M Saroori from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat, main contest seems to be between BJP’s Dr Jitendra Singh and Ch Lal Singh of Congress.
On the other hand, both BJP and Congress are missing in Kashmir and contest for Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary seats is going to be among NC, PDP, Apni Party, People’s Conference and DPAP etc -all regional parties.
In this complex political landscape of J&K, we come to the conclusion that the dominance of national political parties in Jammu and regional parties in Kashmir reflects the differing priorities, identities, and historical contexts between the two regions. Jammu’s alignment with national parties seems influenced by the factors such as demographics and nationalist ideology while Kashmir’s preference for regional parties may stem from a desire for greater autonomy, separate identity and historic trust deficit in relations with the New Delhi.
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