The Kashmir valley is, these days echoing with a high pitch campaign for the three Lok Sabha seats across the valley but the interesting key poll plank of the regional parties is of calling each other a “stooge of BJP”.
The BJP that had in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, fielded its candidates and lost badly on all the three seats in Kashmir, is this time behind the scene supporting candidates of two regional parties. Senior BJP leaders are campaigning in Anantnag, Rajouri, Poonch, Srinagar and Baramulla.
Another national party, Indian National Congress, is campaigning for the National Conference (NC) candidates in the valley where the PDP, JK Apni Party, Peoples Conference, DPAP and a couple of other parties are also in the fray.
NC, PDP, Peoples Conference, JK Apni Party and DPAP of Ghulam Nabi Azad are publicly calling each other a proxy of BJP. The BJP is being painted a villain because of the abrogation of Article 370 and splitting of the state into two union territories (UTs) in August 2019.
Being the first major election after 2019, the NC and PDP are asking the electorate to vote to display their annoyance against abrogation of Article 370. NC vice-president Omar Abdullah questions the BJP why it has not fielded candidates on the Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir despite claiming to have put Jammu and Kashmir on the path of development following abrogation of Article 370.
Abdullah has accused Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP of being the “C-team” of BJP as Mehbooba was herself contesting the election against the INDIA bloc from Anantnag. Abdullah alleged that the PDP candidate fighting election against him in Baramulla, who was earlier a Rajya Sabha member, did not vote against abrogation of Article 370 and directly helped the Modi government by abstaining.
NC activists also accuse Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone of having enjoyed ministership from the BJP quota in the PDP-BJP coalition government. Hitting out at Abdullah, Lone accuses National Conference of having shared power with the BJP when the NC vice-president was a minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee led government from 1999 to 2002.
After pulling himself out of the contest, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who has floated the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) after parting ways from the Congress, claimed that the NC was “seeking time” to meet the BJP’s central leaders. Abdullah was quick in reacting and accusing Azad of hobnobbing with the BJP to damage INDIA bloc’s electoral prospects in the Chenab Valley which is his home turf.
The JK Apni Party of Altaf Bukhari, which has fielded its candidates in Anantnag and Srinagar, is being accused of being the “B-team of BJP”.
Another talking point is deferment of polling for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat to 25 May from the earlier 7 May. It is being alleged that the move was aimed to benefit the BJP backed candidate as most voters belonging to the Gujjar-Bakerwal communities would have moved out to the high pastures with their cattle heads by the date of the poll.
NC leaders Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti have already extensively toured Rajouri and Poonch where they held a series of poll meetings.
Polling for the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency that is currently represented by Dr Farooq Abdullah (NC) will be held on 13 May, Baramulla seat on 20 May and Anantnag-Rajouri on 25 May.