Its do-or-die situation for Mehbooba Mufti
Srinagar/Jammu Tawi, June 13:
Facing a do-or-die situation, this Anantnag Assembly election poll will make or break the PDP-BJP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir. The PDP chief and the chief minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti is contesting by-poll from Anantnag seat that fell vacant by the death of her father late Mufti Mohd. Seyed and to retain the seat her father represented is a big challenge for her.
Under the state's constitution of the state, she has to get elected to either house of the bicameral legislature within six months of taking over the chief minister's post.
Some separatist leaders individually have called for a boycott of the Anantnag polls and there has been a deadly hit-and-run attack by militants in the town earlier this month in which two policemen, including a junior officer, were killed.
While the opposition parties Congress and National Conference say any boycott of the elections would help the PDP, the party argues the boycott would only prevent its supporters from coming out for voting.
Separatist leaders who have given a call for poll boycott seem to be far away from putting upon a united face in urging people to stay indoors on the day of polling for Anantnag Constituency from where Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, has been fielded by the PDP.
The main rivals in the by-poll are candidates belonging to the Congress and the National Conference. Well if the road show organized by Mehbooba in some areas of pockets of the constituency on Saturday is any indication voters seem to have developed a soft corner for the
Chief Minister.
Well her call to voters to vote for her so that she is able to fulfill her father's mission and vision seems to have changed the wind in the constituency in favour of Mehbooba because her father Mufti Mohd Sayeed used to enjoy great love and respect among people in the
entire southern part of Kashmir.
Though PDP's partner in power BJP has been debarred from campaigning in favour of Mehbooba because it being treated as red rag to the bull in Kashmir, the BJP leaders were simply trying to woo over 20,000 Kashmiri Pandit migrant voters from Anantnag who are settled in Jammu, Delhi, Udhampur and other cities of India.
The BJP leaders have started impressing the Kashmiri Pandit voters that defeat of Mehbooba would mean end to the coalition Government. These Pandit voters are being told that Mehbooba was not following the agenda set by separatists in Kashmir.
Reports said that as individual separatists including JKLF Chief, Mohd Yasin Malik has been urging people of Anantnag constituency to stay indoors on the day of polling which could defeat Mehbooba and her image as a political leader may get some beating with poor percentage of votes.
These separatists avoid giving a united call for poll boycott because during the 2002, 2008 and 2014 Assembly election besides previous Lok Sabha elections the polling percentage had remained quite high. In some constituencies the voting percentage ranged between 60 and 70. Hence separatists do not dare to get themselves exposed when their call for poll boycott would not be heeded by voters.
Hence these separatists have started sending their activists to Anantnag where they are engaged in whisper campaign in favour of poll boycott. If the constituency witnessed very poor polling
separatists may try to claim victory and if the voting percentage was quite high these separatists may try to convince people that since they did not issue a poll boycott call people came out in large numbers to the polling booths.
In the 2014 assembly elections, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had defeated his nearest rival, Hilal Ahmad Shah of the Congress, by around 6,000 votes.
The NC had suffered a jolt at the time because its known face against Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, Mehboob Beg, decided to join the PDP at the last minute – leaving the NC desperately battling for someone to take on Sayeed.
