It was July 11, 2000 when the top most central government leadership landed in Srinagar. They included the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then home minister L K Advani, and the then defence minister George Fernandes.
They had arrived to offer their condolences to the then chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah on the death of his mother Begum Akbar Jehan, also known as Madr-e- Meharbaan. She was also a member parliament twice.
The visit occurred at a time when the relations between the centre and state government were not that good. The National Conference government led by chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah had passed a resolution in the legislative assembly demanding restoration of greater autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir.
The resolution was later forwarded to central government for consideration. The union government rejected the resolution describing it as unacceptable and thereby snubbing the Farooq Abdullah government. The centre was not happy with the NC government moving such a resolution in the assembly.
Reports at that time said Farooq had assured the central leadership that the resolution will be only discussed in the legislative assembly and not put to vote. However, the resolution was put to vote and also forwarded to the central government for consideration. The union government rejected it.
A shocked Dr Farooq Abdullah avoided making public appearance for some time due to the snub from Delhi. Later NC convened its working committee meeting to discuss the issue and chalk out future strategy.
One of the options was to move out of the NDA government in the centre. The meeting remained inconclusive and was to be held again. But Begum Akbar Jehan passed away and the meeting could not be continued and no decision was taken.
The arrival of central leadership in Srinagar for offering condolences provided some kind of face saving to Dr Farooq Abdullah. After offering the condolence and attending the burial of Begum Akbar Jehan and paying obeisance at the Hazratbal shrine, Vajpayee briefly talked to media and told them that he has invited Dr Farooq to New Delhi for talks. Later the state government formed a committee for a dialogue with centre. However, no headway could be made in talks and the process died its own death.
The move to get an autonomy resolution passed in the assembly and sending it to centre for consideration could not help NC in the next assembly polls in 2002. That was obvious from the election results. From nearly a two-third majority in 1996 assembly polls the party could manage to get only 28 seats. This paved way for the formation of PDP- Congress coalition government.
The NC’s autonomy move backfired for it. But the question is what made the NC to take such a risky step and annoy the centre when the relations between the two were cordial. Political observers feel that NC did it with an eye on 2002 assembly polls. The party wanted to consolidate further its position. At that time NC had not imagined the drubbing it was going to get in the assembly elections.
Despite the enormous support from the centre, the NC government could not deliver on the governance front to the extent as was expected by the people while giving it a massive mandate in 1996 polls.
Political observers say the non-serious approach in the working at the top most level and almost completely handing over a political government’s affairs to two senior bureaucrat friends did not go well within the party and outside.
Even as some first time ministers tried to work hard and effectively but not so impressive performance by the seniors was noticed more at the public level. The seniors, equipped with important and powerful portfolios, mainly focussed on their respective assembly constituencies and their supporters there to keep themselves electorally protected. Most other constituencies and the common people felt neglected thus hitting the ruling party’s interests badly.
Some people believe that NC government could have performed extraordinary from 1996 to 2002 in view of the significant support and liberal flow of funds it got from the centre. After the fall of NC, the other parties which formed the governments in J&K tried to do something significant on governance and development front. There is a general perception that Azad in particular made some valuable contribution to the development.
As the popularity graph of NC kept on declining during Farooq Abdullah’s government, PDP silently started occupying the political space. NC leadership alleged that PDP was the creation of BJP since the national party was unhappy with it for passing the autonomy resolution in the state assembly. PDP denied the NC allegation. In view of the public acceptability during polls, PDP came to power in 2002 and then in 2014.
The second stint in power was not that comfortable for PDP. The death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and then the disastrous end of Mehbooba Mufti government came as major setbacks. The PDP leadership even now is finding it difficult to defend its actions since 2014.
If the party contests next assembly polls (whenever held) alone, it will have to be ready for intense bashing by rival parties including the NC. Former chief minister Omar Abdullah is known for PDP bashing, the way Mehbooba used to do against NC in the past.
Mehbooba in a recent interview while severely criticising BJP on various issues since August 5, 2019, tried to defend the central government on certain matters when she was the chief minister. She did not wholly blame the BJP for the failure of her coalition government.
According to her, the situation on the ground became so terrible and tense particularly since July, 2016 that nothing seemed to work. She also blamed the terrorist and separatist groups for not positively responding to the ceasefire at that time, or to the offer of talks made by the government and the mainstream parties.
While no political party commented on Mehbooba’s latest interview but may be the interview and her other statements will be discussed and highlighted by the rivals at the election time.
Author is senior editor, Greater Kashmir.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.