Opinion - Editorials

The politics of pull-out

THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE'S decision to pull out of the ruling National Democratic Alliance has been a long time coming. The eventual rupture may have been the result of a slew of causes, but the principal reason for the withdrawal is the looming Lok Sabha election next year. Having been roundly defeated in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election last year, the National Conference is fully aware of the political cost of allying with the BJP-led NDA in a Muslim-majority State. The statement of Omar Abdullah, the party's president, that the chapter of having alliances with parties in Delhi is over and his admission that his organisation had become "Delhi's voice in Kashmir instead of Kashmir's voice in Delhi" are pointers towards the political space the National Conference wants to occupy as a general election nears. Indications that the party will adopt a strongly `pro-Kashmiri' line were even more evident on the day after the National Conference withdrew support. Addressing a rally in Srinagar on Martyr's Day (to commemorate the protest against Dogra rule), Mr. Abdullah made a robust pitch for autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir and portrayed his party as the only one in the State that was neither New Delhi's ally nor Islamabad's handmaiden.

The National Conference would have preferred to dress up its pull-out in ideological clothing, a fact reflected in Mr. Abdullah's regret that his party did not withdraw support over the carnage in Gujarat or the controversial POTA legislation. But the timing of the severance leaves a sufficiently long spell for the party for a makeover, a period it could use to re-orient its image as an unattached party that stands strongly for `Kashmiriyat'. At another level, the rupture between the National Conference and the NDA was helped along by a number of irritants. The most important of these was probably the Prime Minister's less than helpful attitude towards the former Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, who, after losing the Assembly election, had banked on being suitably accommodated either as Vice-President or in an important Ministry. Another factor that introduced a strain in the five-year relationship was the Centre's periodic and fitful attempts to engage other groups in the Valley, most notably the parties comprising the Hurriyat Conference. The National Conference tended to regard these initiatives as attempts to undermine it; it was particularly upset last year when Mr. Vajpayee promised "free and fair elections" in Jammu and Kashmir, an assurance that was read as implying that the previous elections were far from impartial.

The withdrawal of support by five National Conference MPs will not affect the stability of the Vajpayee Government in any way. But it has an important symbolic impact. While the National Conference was merely one party in a discordant ruling alliance of some two dozen, its participation helped the BJP to project itself as leading a rainbow coalition, one that was both inclusive and eclectic. It was political opportunism that brought the National Conference to the NDA fold five years ago. The inherent contradiction involved in representing a Muslim-majority State and being a part of a BJP-led Government has manifested itself time and again. The most conspicuous instance of this was in 1999 when Saifuddin Soz, then a National Conference MP, defied the party decision to support the Vajpayee Government during the vote on the confidence motion. Ironically, the reason Mr. Soz advanced for defying the party whip ("the people of Jammu and Kashmir are against supporting the Government") is the very same reason Mr. Abdullah has advanced for pulling out now.

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