Mid-term polls imminent?

Srinagar: As Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti is unlikely to stake claim to power in Jammu and Kashmir and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failing to re-establish their alliance with PDP for forging an alliance following the death of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, all major parties are warming up for the midterm polls.

Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday indicated that the party would go back to the drawing board and urged the party leaders to organize worker conventions at the district headquarters. She also asked the party leaders to gear up for the party’s membership drive from January 31.

Mehbooba Mufti was tipped to be the first woman chief minister of Jammu Kashmir but she showed reluctance to take oath as the CM, delaying the government formation and paving way for the Governor’s rule in the state.

With the continuing political uncertainty, PDP’s alliance partner BJP is also keeping its options open and is ready for midterm polls if the two parties fail to forge the alliance for the second time. BJP general secretary Ashok Koul said his party was ready for the midterm polls. “If midterm polls are held, we’ll fight,” he said.

Koul said the performance of 10-month PDP-BJP government headed by the Mufti Sayeed would not impact the party’s prospects. “We will do better than what we did in 2014 Legislative Assembly polls,” he said. “We will double our seat tally.”

The BJP has already started its membership drive and the BJP high command had asked Koul to meet all prominent personalities from Kathua to Srinagar. While the PDP and BJP, who ruled the state for the past 10 months, are preparing their contingency plan in case midterm polls are held, the National Conference (NC) and the Congress, who were in the Opposition, also have their plans ready for the mid-term polls.

Hinting at the mid-term polls in Jammu and Kashmir, former CM and NC president Farooq Abdullah said if there is no solution, NC is ready to go for the mid-term elections. “National Conference doesn’t have mandate to form government with just 15 legislators. I don’t feel that we can go ahead with the BJP or PDP,” he said earlier.

NC provisional president of Kashmir Nasir Aslam Wani said, “We are ready for mid-term polls, our cadre is ready and even people are eager for midterm polls.” He said his party had already started a membership drive and the party high command has asked the leadership to visit areas where the drive has not been conducted and complete the process by January 31.

The Congress too is ready for the mid-term polls but first wants the parties creating an environment of political uncertainty in the state to take responsibility for it. “Elections aren’t an easy exercise,” State Congress chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir said. “Who will take responsibility for the midterm polls?,” he asked.

Expressing optimism over the performance of Congress, he said the party would recover. The Congress too has started its membership drive, which is now in its third leg. “When it is time for participating in polls, the Congress has always been a frontrunner and never ran away from the democratic process,” Mir said.