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Sensing hung House, J-K leaders descend on Delhi

JAMMU Top Kashmir politicians are now in New Delhi holding pre-result consultations to work out new permutations and combinations to form the new government in the state.

Sensing hung House, J-K leaders descend on Delhi

A security man stands guard outside a counting hall in Jammu on Sunday. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh



Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 21

Top Kashmir politicians are now in New Delhi holding pre-result consultations to work out new permutations and combinations to form the new government in the state.
Right from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to the top leaders of the PDP and the BJP, all are busy shaping and reshaping their respective strategies as to how to go about in the new political scene that will unfold in the state after the results of the Assembly polls are out on December 23.
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, whose party is sensing victory on a maximum number of seats in the 87-member Assembly, is camping in the National Capital along with her trusted colleagues Tariq Hamid Karra and Haseeb Drabu.
While Karra had scripted history by defeating National Conference president and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah in the parliamentary elections earlier this year, Drabu, a renowned economist, has strong political connections in New Delhi.
Officially in the party circles, it is being given out that Mehbooba and Karra, who are Members of Parliament, are there for the ongoing winter session, which they had been unable to attend because of the elections, but sources say they are engaged in hectic sessions to chalk out their strategy.
Party’s patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who is in Jammu, was being kept briefed about all possibilities. They will fly to Srinagar tomorrow with party activists ahead of the results, and exchange notes.
The multi-million dollar question surrounds Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. At the moment, political pundits are holding back their predictions on him or his party, the National Conference.
Omar is missing his father Farooq Abdullah who is currently in London. He is also holding consultations with some of the leaders there. It is not known what kind of arithmetic is being worked out by him as his party is seen not averse to any political alignment or re-alignment. Omar’s survival in politics depends on the outcome of the elections. Although he has been exuding confidence that his party will do well in the polls and has advised his admirers and adversaries alike to wait till the results are out, scepticism is up in the air in the NC circles.
To make himself and his party an important player, Omar will touch the hitherto untouched limits in politics, sources say. National Conference is the only party in the state to have been an ally of both the NDA and the UPA. Omar was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and has had a sweet-sour political relationship with the Congress in the state. BJP’s man in the state, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office, also flew down to the National Capital to be available for consultations with the party leadership.
The party, which was eyeing more than 44 seats in the Assembly, may end up nowhere close to the magic figure, which signals the majority in the House. Yet it can be a critical player in the future political chessboard in the state. That’s what makes BJP’s deliberations important in New Delhi, say sources. The saffron party is keen to be part of the government in Jammu and Kashmir, where it had put everything into the campaign to achieve its “Mission 44 plus”, but indications are it may turn out to be just a dream.
The Congress, which doesn’t expect big results this time around and is searching for life jackets to stay afloat, is looking toward the high command for its future role.
Former CM Ghulam Nabi Azad is in Mumbai attending on his ailing wife, while PCC president Saifuddin Soz is in Srinagar looking at his own future as the next Assembly will also decide as to who will go to the Rajya Sabha from J&K in February, when his and Azad’s term ends.

 

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