Hold fresh elections in J&K
Though it won’t guarantee stability, it’s the only way out
The manner in which Governor Satyapal Malik dissolved the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has raised concerns about the fairness of the move and its implications in the militancy-hit state. One can perhaps agree with his reading that the PDP-NCCongress coalition is prone to an early demise. But it is difficult to countenance his statements about the claimants’ ideological incompatibility. To turn down a bid for government-formation on such grounds is patently untenable. It is also antithetical to conventional political wisdom that interprets split mandates as electoral licence for coalitions. The history of J&K is replete with coalitions, of which the most incompatible was the one between the PDP and the BJP. It failed in June. And while the Governor may be right in linking the stability and longevity of the proposed arrangement to the state’s security, there’s no guarantee that fresh polls will throw up a stable regime.
The other reason Mr Malik has cited for dissolving the House is horse trading. There is supreme irony in this. For months now, the BJP has quietly supported a Sajjad Lone-led initiative to form a government (he too made a belated pitch to, on Wednesday). Mr Malik overlooked a powerful common theme that binds the three parties: their pro-India credentials, and their record of standing up to separatists and terrorists. Even the PDP, usually the most voluble about engaging with the separatists and Pakistan, fights elections under the Constitution. That brings one to BJP general secretary Ram Madhav’s diatribe against the PDP-NC by way of explaining Raj Bhawan’s decision: “[They] boycotted local body polls last month because they had instructions from across the border. Probably they had fresh instructions… to come together to form the government.” This is simply unacceptable.
But, Mr Madhav may well have cut off the nose to spite the face by maligning regional outfits with whom the BJP has had alliances in the state (PDP) and at the Centre (NC) in the past. Mr Madhav has since backpedalled. The only way to manage what can only be described as yet another mis-step by New Delhi in the Valley is to swiftly hold elections.