Former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah is on a tour of the Pir Panchal region comprising Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu region.
He talked about the restoration of Article 370 and 35A; surge in militancy and normalcy claims of the government and questioning of development in public and workers meetings. He raised emotive issues to secure their support base in a new scenario that has emerged in the last two years.
In a way, Omar has resumed National Conference's political contact campaign in these districts to keep up the morale of party workers and supporters after a lull post Article 370 revocation that has been witnessed in the political activities for the last two years. Addressing a number of public rallies, Omar Abdullah apprised people of his version of events that started from August 05, 2019 onward and reiterating his party's stand clear that they have not reconciled to the scrapping of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and what followed after the watershed moment.
National Conference's latest campaign that started immediately after the Delimitation Commission recommendations is seen as an exercise to offset the side effects of the restructured map by the latest delimitation that the National Conference has totally rejected ab initio.
Knowing well that the Politics being the game of possibilities, the National Conference cannot leave the political space for other or infringe elements by not participating directly in the forthcoming Legislative Elections in Jammu Kashmir Union territory, despite its declared stand over the changed political setup in Jammu Kashmir and demanding reversal of all political decisions post August 2018 and restoration of statehood.
Before Omar, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti visited the Pir Panjal region comprising Rajouri and Poonch districts and addressed party workers and public meetings. She accused BJP of dividing regional parties to create proxies for legitimising abrogation of Article 370.
However, Political observers feel that the political parties — especially NC and PDP — are reconciling to the new situation and are linking their political activity with elections, which may now be held in the next five to six months.
The DDC polls have given a boost to the prospects of many new parties and it made clear to NC and PDP that they would be big losers if they stay away from ensuing elections.
Thus, the two main parties were trying to regain their clout as Apni Party and Peoples Conference are strengthening their grip in north Kashmir. “They understood that being mainstream parties, they have to contest polls otherwise they will become redundant.
The two parties have realised that “boycott politics” won't work and that they would have to remain politically active and connected to stay relevant.
With the entry of Apni Party and PC, NC and PDP cannot afford to stay inactive else they will lose their base and become irrelevant in J&K's political landscape.
