By KO Political Editor
Srinagar- As expected, the People’s Democratic Party’s manifesto takes a more aggressive stance than the National Conference (NC) in its political agenda. Besides calling for restoration of Article 370, the party has sought resolution of the larger Kashmir issue. This both distinguishes the PDP’s manifesto from that of the NC and signals a more hawkish political line, allowing the party to stand out from the rest.
“For me, this election is not for statehood or seat sharing… We have a bigger goal… We are fighting for dignity, for the resolution of the Kashmir issue,” Mehbooba said while releasing the manifesto
She continued that if the National Conference and Congress were ready to adopt the PDP agenda, she will support them fully, even without contesting any seats.
Although the demand is rhetorical in nature, it allows Mufti to position her politics as slightly more hardline than that of the NC, its nearest competitor in Kashmir Valley. The party could hope to benefit from this as the demands, even if essentially symbolic, nod to the grievances harboured by a significant section of Kashmiri society – more so, in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 in August 370.
The PDP has been left out of the NC-Congress, apparently because the NC didn’t want to have to further share the Valley seats with a local party. Besides, the recent victory in the South Kashmir parliamentary seat has further emboldened the NC to give a short shrift to the PDP, which otherwise is a member of the INDIA bloc. .
Left in lurch and abandoned even by the Congress, the PDP has been forced to strike out on its own. A hawkish line could thus serve the party well. More so, when other regional parties, including the NC, will have agendas that may look tamer in contrast.
One exception could be the manifesto of the Awami Ittehad Party of the jailed Engineer Rashid. But beyond including “Kashmir issue” in the manifesto, it won’t be possible for any party to go more extreme than that.
Earlier, the senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar accused the NC of adjusting faster to the new political reality in Kashmir.
“They (NC) are doing what they have done so many times before: normalizing the new situations and the new status quo imposed by New Delhi,” Akhtar told reporters while welcoming Chaudhury Haroon into the PDP at the party’s headquarters near Sher-i-Kashmir Park on Friday. “Today, once a large state has been reduced to the size of a match box, and the NC is again at the forefront of accepting it (as a fait accompli).”
In the days to come, the PDP could be expected to further harden its political stance to show the NC as more accommodating of the post-Article 370 reality. It remains to be seen how the NC responds to the challenge.
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