Though unfamiliar with an electoral victory of this magnitude, the National Conference’s grand success was surprisingly marked by unconcern here. Victory celebrations, unlike in Jammu and Ladakh, were markedly absent in the Valley. The mood was somber even among the NC ranks. Many NC cadres were seen quietly visiting their leaders and MLAs at their highly guarded Government guest houses in Srinagar. Incidentally, no candidate had an election office at any of the constituency headquarters. Interestingly, even the bureaucrats and police officials were not seen greeting the prospective Ministers. If the post result mood is any indication, the public representatives will have to do much to inspire enthusiasm for their governance. The apathy, however, indicates anew temperament in the Kashmir people, who have witnessed violence for the past many years. The NC has won 54 of the 81 seats, results of which were declared so far. Its clean sweep, however, has stymied the democratic process, having tripped the emergence of a visible opposition. The fallout of its victory is the rout of Indian National Congress, the one mainstream party with the longest presence in Kashmir after the NC.
With Mufti Mohammad Syeed’s return to the Congress, the Congress was supposed to have performed well especially in south Kashmir. But the defection of stalwarts like Abdul Qayoom Basher and former minister Abdul Aziz Zargar from the Congress tilted the balance in favor of the NC, which also had the support of prominent ‘Shia leader, Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari. Neither the Bhartiya Janaia Party not did the Janata Dal succeed in challenging the NC’s supremacy in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, The BJP bettered its record by winning seven seats, but it failed to make any dent in Buddhist Ladakh, not to speak of Muslim dominated Kashmir.
The JD, the party at the Center, made a debut in the Assembly election but did not manage to Tank as a strong Opposition, winning just five seats. The BSP, another new entrant, won three seats and is an ally of the NC. The two regional parties, Panthers Party and Awami League which won a seat each, are but pocked sized entitles claiming a Statewide stature. Though the NC’s reemergence was expected, few thought the party would return to power with a bang. Leaders of the NC, Mr. Mohammad Shafi Uri and Prof. Saifuddin Soz describe the landslide victory as a ‘people’s mandate for the NC’s position on autonomy”. The State administration, however, calls it a vote “against violence”. Independent observers hold the absence of a serious opposition to be the reason for the NC’s victory. Traditional opposition parties like Jamaat e Islami, Peoples Conference and the Awami Action sat out the elections being constituents of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, which called for the poll boycott. For people caught between “perpetual violence and the urge for azadi”’, no party other than the NC could have served better.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1996
