Post-poll strategy: Politicians in Jammu & Kashmir cozying up to each other

SRINAGAR: With campaigning over for the last phase of voting this weekend, politicians in Jammu & Kashmir are apparently cozying up to each other. Pollsters are anticipating a hung assembly, which will push the state to another spell of coalition government and the parties are preparing to face that eventuality.

For the past two months, no party spared its opponents. But all that stopped Thursday evening when campaigning for the final phase ended.

The most surprising development was the statement made by the Congress’s state chief on the last day of campaigning. “We have not permanently divorced NC or any other party in J&K,” Saif-ud-Din Soz told a presser in Jammu.

The Congress and National Conference shared power in the state but split up just ahead of the assembly election. “I admit, we criticised the Omar (Abdullah) government during campaign, but that was based on facts,” he said, adding that the “non-existing Modiwave” has failed to dent Congress’s position as the king-maker. “There is absolutely no possibility of any government in J&K without our support,” he said. PDP sources say since results will be out on Tuesday, there is no need to talk about the emerging scenarios.

“We are sure on one thing that the PDP is emerging as the single largest party and the BJP is there as the principal opposition,” one senior leader said, requesting not to be named. “But which combination will rule, it is too early to say.” Ideally, parties stop loud-thinking in anticipation of results. So many in J&K even went a step ahead by creating their own Lakshman Rekhas. BJP leader and Union Minister Arun Jaitely said in Jammu that since the party lacked ideological allies in the state, it may choose to sit in the opposition.

“We will not join hands with any regional party to form the government. BJP is trying to form the government of its own, if someone from the nationalistic forces wants to come and sit with us we will let them join,” Jaitely told reporters. “We have no political relationship with these two regional parties (NC, PDP) as we have different ideologies.” NC’s Mustafa Kamal said the party is ready to occupy the opposition benches.