Saifuddin Shah, 70, and his family from the village of Kakroosa in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir have been staunch loyalists of the National Conference (NC) led by former Prime Minister Farooq Abdullah. He says they have always voted for NC, which ushered in transformative land reforms in the 1950s and negotiated the special status of the old state that was repealed last year.
The family credits North Carolina with playing an important role in the “development and empowerment” of Jammu and Kashmir and says it would not have voted for the rival People’s Conference (PC) turned ally Tuesday in the elections of the District Development Council (DDC) if they hadn’t been contesting the polls together. The two parties are part of a six-party alliance called the Popular Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD). The group was formed in October to fight for the restoration of special status.
The leaders of NC and PC have been campaigning jointly for their candidates as the bitter rivalry between them seems to be a thing of the past.
“Our family always voted for NC. It has been a relationship of generations with this party. This time, we vote … for [PC]… After the special status was removed, the old rivalries ended automatically, especially when all the mainstream leaders were arrested. I could never have thought of voting for the CP candidate but for the future of Kashmir, there was no other option … ”Shah said.
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Three former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were among hundreds of people who were detained to prevent protests against the annulment of article 370 of the Constitution that stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status. The head of the CP, Sajjad Lone, was also among those arrested. A prolonged communications blackout and blackout were also imposed after the annulment, meaning outsiders can now buy property and get government jobs in the region.
Umar Farooq, who is voting for the first time, echoed Shah saying that his family is also a North Carolina supporter, but decided to vote for a joint PAGD candidate. “Kashmir has been betrayed by leaders of all parties. This is the first time leadership has arrived on a single platform. So, let’s give them another chance. We lost everything when these people divided and we hope that now with unity, they can bring us something in return ”.
Mohammad Maqbool Khan, a local village chief, said the alliance is helping both NC and PC. “Both parties have strong vote banks in Kupwara …”
PAGD is contesting the majority of the DDC’s 280 seats. So far, 50 of the seats in the Kashmir division have been voted in the first two phases of voting.
Umar Maqbool, a political analyst, said that PAGD looks strong on paper, but it remains to be seen whether the votes of big parties like NC, PC and the Mufti People’s Democratic Party are transferable. “In many places, votes are being transferred and the alliance seems solid. But in many places local rivalries are becoming a major impediment to this transfer of votes, which could harm the PAGD candidates … many independent candidates, who are actually representatives of the political parties, could also win ” .
PC spokesman Adnan Ashraf said that many disgruntled candidates from different parties are competing as independent candidates. He acknowledged that this could make it difficult to transfer votes between PAGD allies. “The leaders are doing everything they can to win the seats. We are campaigning in areas that are our strongholds … we want the alliance to win the maximum number of seats. “
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