When the founding PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig raised his banner of revolt against the party on November 20 and expressed his support for Sajad Gani Lone led Third Front, it appeared only a matter of time before a significant chunk of the PDP leaders would follow Baig into the lap of Lone. A process of the formation of the government comprising the defectors from the PDP and possibly also from the NC seemed set to culminate into the anointment of Lone as the new J&K Chief Minister.
But then the juggernaut was stopped in its tracks. Overnight, the PDP, the NC, and the Congress joined hands to stake claim to form the government and pre-empt Lones ambitious bid. It left Governor Satya Pal Malik little wiggle room and he was left with no choice but to dissolve the Assembly which he had otherwise resisted to do earlier.
The frenetic chain of political events that played out over twenty-four hours had its heroes and villains, winners and losers, depending upon which side of the divide one belonged. But from an objective perspective, it appears that the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti was the clear winner.
In a political masterstroke, she not only aborted Lones bid for power but also got herself rehabilitated by her bitter political rivals. After languishing on the margins of the Kashmirs political space over the past five months, she suddenly found her moment in the sun and hurtled back to the centre stage. She not only got a chance to occupy some moral space by pitting herself against Lones political overreach but also project herself once again as the defender of the states special position, Article 370 and Article 35A et all. The NC leader Omar Abdullah in his press conference duly highlighted this fact.
“I was advised against allying with the PDP. I was told I was giving a new life to the party,” Omar said. “But I decided to lend my support in the interest of Kashmir. I rose above the political considerations of my own party”.
Lone definitely is the loser. He lost the game after coming closest to winning it. However, he can still take heart from the potential future political benefit that may accrue to him from the joining of his party by the leaders like Imran Ansari and possibly other PDP rebels. However, the biggest loser in the game is Muzzafar Hussain Baig. He has perhaps lost it all. He is unlikely to be welcome in the PDP any longer and will have little role to play in the Peoples Conference should he choose to join it.
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