Jammu and Kashmir’s Monthly Magazine RNI : JKENG/2007/26070 ISSN 0974-5653

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Epilogue
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Telling
The J&K Stories
Jammu, June 1, 2009 / Vol 3 / Issue 6 || Price Rs. 30 || Postal Registration No. JK-350/2009-11 || www.epilogue.in

Meet J&K’s Men In New Delhi

FINANCE
MINISTER
ABDUL
RAHIM
RATHER

ELECTIONS - 2009
Reports and Analysis

Political Scientist
EXPLAINS Rekha Chowdhary
comments on
JAMMU & Regional perception of polls
KASHMIR’S Issues that shapes campaign
STATE OF Rise of NC-Congress, decline of PDP & BJP
The difference Sajjad Lne made
ECONOMY UPA and prospects of peace process

TRACING A special feature on

REVOLUTION Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University

Economic Reconstruction Agency under the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank has
launched several schemes to augment the water supply in Srinagar city. The various schemes with a
cumulative storage capacity of 39 MGD include Rangil water supply scheme, Nishat-Doodhganga
water supply scheme and Nishat-Dalbund water supply scheme which will cater to the drinking
water needs of the population of about 10,93,995 souls of Srinagar city.

Scope of Works Total Storage Capacity Population to be benefitted (souls)

Rangil water supply Scheme 10MGD 294000

Areas to be benefitted
Khulmulla, Zakura, Owantabavan, Bakshipora,Tengpora, Muj-Gund, Parimpora, Lawayopora, Shalteng,
Colonies on Right and Left side. National Highway, Left side of National highway Bypass (Bemina,
Muminabad, Firdousabad, Tengpora(left), Right side of National highway Bypass(Hamdania colony,
Khumani colony (partly), Nundreshi Colony, JVC)

Nishat Doodhganga water supply Scheme 21.5 MGD 614132

Areas to be benefitted
Jawahar Nagar, Kralpora, Natipora, Rambagh, Nowgam, Rajbagh, Gulshan Nagar, Gogji Bagh, Solina,
Chanapora Colony, Budshah Nagar, Allochi Bagh Part, Bagh-e-Mehtab, Tulsi Bagh, Wazir Bagh, Lal Mandi,
Hazuri Bagh, Amira Kadal, Shivpora, Rajbagh and Magarmal Bagh, Lal Chowk, Maisuma, Abiguzar, Kral
Sangri, Karapora, Brein, Patnta Chowk, Sonwar, Buchwara, Gupkar Road, Ram Munshi Bagh, Athwajan,
Mahraja Bazar, Sari Payeen, Lal Mandi, Jawaharnagar (partly), Basant Bagh, Bar Bar Shah.

Nishat Dalbund water supply Scheme 7.5MGD 185863

Areas to be benefitted
Saida Kadal Bridge, Zinsha Masjid, Rainawari Chowk, Soorateng Chowk, Shiraz Chowk, Nowhatta,
Naidyaar, Hasibhat, Chowdary Bagh.
B R I D G I N G T H E I N F O R M A T I O N D I V I D E

Taking J&K Closer to World

Bringing World Closer to J&K

Epilogue
because there is more to know

30
F O R T H E
Volume : 3, Number : 6
ISSN : 0974-5653
RNI : JKENG/2007/26070
www.epilogue.in

M O N T H O F J U N E 2 0 0 9

Every election in Jammu and Kashmir is

linked by establishment with resolution of
Kashmir issue, such attempt is resisted by
separatists; Lok Sabha elections offer an
interesting study as local issues are not
involved here. Present issue offers an
insight into the exercise that concluded in
middle of May

Epilogue Ø
1×
June 2009
 HUNG ASSEMBLY

I n the middle of elections our small team of staffers along with some 30 volunteers
traveled across the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir to gauge the public
mood. The conclusion was that there will be a hung assembly with NC as largest party,
PDP second and Congress third. Looking at the pages of our December issue one can
see all parties have come up with same number of seats as we had predicted except
the BJP.
Dec. 2008
MANDATE :

A collectors issue, the special number on our second anniversary came as fastest
possible, yet professionally correct work, on J&K elections. Result were declare
on December 28 and our issue carrying complete elections analysis and elections
trends at constituency level was out before the government was sworn I.

Jan. 2009
AGENDA FOR OMAR GOVERNMENT :

T he coalition government of National Conference and the Congress headed by

Omar Abdullah Omar Abdullah took over on January 5 but it did not declare a
shared agenda. Epilogue's February issue put together opinions of well meaning

A limited number of unbound back volumes is available in our stocks.

people from across the country setting out an agenda for Omar Abdullah government

Feb. 2009
A R E Y O U M I S S I N G O U R PA S T S T O R I E S

CONNECTING J&K

C onnectivity is a major issue in J&K and people in many areas taunt the
government saying that roads were laid in remote areas only because
they close to borders. Our March issue looked at the connectivity via roads,
rail and air to bring to the fore the missing links.

For booking your copies call us at 9797599365

Mar. 2009
TREADING FAILURE

A s world watches keenly the new unfolding developments in Pakistan, our

Consulting Editor D Suba Chandran travelled to the troubled country to
bring fresh perspectives for our readers in April Issue.

Apr. 2009

J&K MOVING FORWARD

M ay issue was one of the rare collections of ideas where 12 natives from
both sides of Jammu and Kashmir poured their ideas out of the heart on
how boundaries can be blurred and relations can be strengthened.

May 2009
 Epilogue
because there is more to know

www.epilogue.in FINANCE Meet J&K’s Men In New Delhi CONTENTS

MINISTER
ABDUL
Editor RAHIM Prologue 5
RATHER Letters 6
Zafar Iqbal Choudhary
Note Book
Consulting Editor ELECTIONS - 2009 11 Essential Entries 7
D. Suba Chandran Reports and Analysis
Interview
Associate Editors Political Scientist J&K Finance Minister 13
EXPLAINS Rekha Chowdhary Zafar Choudhary & Dipanker Sengupta
Irm Amin Baig JAMMU & comments on
Regional perception of polls
KASHMIR’S Issues that shapes campaign
Tsewang Rigzin STATE OF Rise of NC-Congress, decline of PDP & BJP
The difference Sajjad Lne made Review
ECONOMY UPA and prospects of peace process
Beyond Elections in 40
Art Editor India’s Democracy
Keshav Sharma IN FOCUS Bidyut Chakrabarty

Lok Sabha Elections Column

Research Officer
5000 years of Kashmir 43
Raman Sharma Balraj Puri
20 NC-Congress gain grounds, Under the stars and 46
Mailing Address PDP, BJP pushed to margins searchlights of Doda...
PO Box 50, HO Gandhi Nagar, Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
Manisha Sobhrajani
Jammu Gulabname : A Persian 48
24 Answers to Essential Questions Window to J&K History
Prof. Rekha Chowdhary comments on Prof. Jigar Mohammad
Phones & email Build a Bigger, Rainy Day Fund 54
significant aspects of Lok Sabha
Office : +91 191 2493136 Balraj Puri
Elections 2009
Editorial: +91 94191 80762
Ladakh Special
Administration: +91 94190 00123 30 Why Congress Won and
Wildlife in Ladakh 50
editor@epilogue.in Why BJP Lost? Trans-Himalayas
editor.epilogue@gmail.com M Shamsur Rabb Khan Tahir Shawl
subscription@epilogue.in 33 Prominent Faces
Report
Edited, Printed, Published and J&K Registers Strong Presence 52
Owned by Zafar Iqbal Choudhary. at UPSC
Epilogue Desk
Published from : Ibadat House,
Madrasa Lane, Near Graveyard,
Study
Bathindi Top, Jammu, J&K -
Boosting hill economy 56
180012 and Printed at : DEE
Kalari can show the way
DEE Reprographix, 3 Aikta Sreya Sarkar
Ashram, New Rehari Jammu
(J&K)
SPECIAL FEATURE BGSB UNIVERSITY
Disputes, if any, subject to
jurisdiction of courts and 59 Ruminations
competitive tribunals in Jammu 63 Tracing a Revolution D Suba Chandran
only. 68 The War Against Illiteracy

RNI : JKENJ/2007/26070 28 Knowing is not the same as understanding him MY Taing

ISN : 00974-5653 73 Empowering Women in Neighbourhood Dr. Ashfaq Zarri

Price : Rs 30 82 What they said to us

Epilogue Ø
3×
June 2009
30
ISSUES OF
CHANGE

Time for Omar to Deliver
Zafar Choudhary
A
fter a protracted yet
exciting campaign trail
spanning over nearly
three months, a that those should be voted who are
government with new
mandate is in place in New Delhi. Now
is the time for Jammu and Kashmir
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to
withdraw himself from the politics of
maneuvering for party and coalition
and get back to work on his mandate.
The Chief Minister must sit down with
his cabinet colleagues to evolve a
comprehensive strategy for delivering
on the promises his party National
Conference and the alliance partner
Congress made with the people of
Jammu and Kashmir during Assembly
elections. Taking over as youngest
Chief Minister in January this year,
Omar had said that the single biggest
challenge before him meeting public
expectations which are too high.
Leave aside the high expectations,
even the modest one have not been
met as Omar completes five months in
office. People want results and not
mere promises. Omar and the Congress
leadership in the state need to
examine the implications of the recent
LoK Sabha election. People, rather
voters, discarded the mighty
politicians and voted for those in
whom they had faith. Voters thought
capable of doing something for the
people. Hence neither Omar Abdullah
nor those belonging to the Congress
can show complacency. Public interest
issues have to be tackled on a war
footing. So far the NC-Congress
Government has been able to take only
two major steps. One relates to the
amendment to the Jail manual for the
purpose of providing better treatment
to women prisoners and their kids.
Second important decision pertains to
curbs imposed on officers earning good
amount of money by inflating the TA
and DA bills. Beyond these two
decisions there is nothing visible on
the ground. While the Chief Minister's
development and work culture
promises are yet to show any results,
the incidents of the violations of
human rights in the Kashmir Valley are
on unusual rise. These issues need
immediate attention. Unfortunately
the hands of the Government have
remained tethered because of election
model code of conduct but now is the
time to deliver. Past five months, the
Epilogue Ø
5×
June 2009
P R O L O G U E
From the Editor
Chief Minister and his cabinet
colleagues were enjoying a grace
period –the government had to take
some time for settling down, then
there elections to the Rajya Sabha and
State Legislative Council and then the
General Elections. Nothing is now left
which should offer the government
an excuse for non-performance. It is
to the advantage of Omar that the
Congress led UPA government has
returned to power in New Delhi. The
Congress and the National
Conference are partners in the
ruling alliance both at State and the
Center. This has come as huge
advantage for the Chief Minister
who can use this power axis on two
fronts –ensuring smooth funds of flow
from Center to State and facilitating
dialogue between Kashmiri separatists
and New Delhi. Omar's government is
about to complete six months and
therefore by June 30, the Chief
Minister must come up with a
comprehensive and time-bound
programme to address the issue he
promised to in poll campaign.
Feedback :
zafarchoudhary@epilogue.in

Cabinet Expansion
Cabinet expansion is on the cards. The vacancy in the
council of ministers is 15 after 10-member cabinet was
sworn in January last. More important than filling the
vacant seats is who is going to get berth in the ministry
which is going to have a two-tier formation..Reports
indicate that Omar Abdullah plans to add five more
faces in the cabinet and the remaining ten may be
sworn in as ministers of state Since the constitutional
amendment of 2005 provides for restrictions on the
size of the ministry Omar's hands are tight as he cannot
afford to take more than 25 members in the council of
ministers. Under the constitutional provision the size
of ministry should be 20 per cent of the strength of the
state legislature. The constitutional amendment
received the Governor's assent in January 2006.As such
the NC-Congress leadership may not be able to please
majority of legislators. When Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
was the Chief Minister between 2002 and 2005 he had
no restrictions in inducting ministers in the cabinet. At
the time Mufti hung the boots the council of ministers
headed by him had 39 members. It was he who could
accommodate more faces from the PDP and the
Congress besides those from the Peoples' Democratic
Front and the Panthers Party. If one takes into account
the numerical strength of the PDP-Congress alliance
the two had 44 MLAs and this time the Congress-NC has
the same number of MLAs. In case the NC bagged the
Hazratbal seat, for which the election will be held on
June 3,the strength may go up to 45.During the time of
the Mufti's chief Ministership not more than eight MLAs,
belonging to the Congress and the PDP, could not be
accommodated in the council of ministers.If Omar
Abdullah decides to fill all the 15 vacant seats he may
have to keep more than 19 MLA's, belonging to the
Congress and the National Conference, out of the
cabinet. He may try to keep more legislators happy by
appointing them heads of Boards and corporations. Well,
Omar has six years tenure. He can have the council of
ministers on a rotational basis. In all he may have 25
faces in the council of ministers. Let him retain these
faces for three years and after that bring in another set of
legislators for another three years. He may retain about a
dozen senior legislators in the cabinet for full six years.
This can give a chance to others also to enjoy power. If it
is done it may leave no scope for dissensions and heart
burns. Let Omar test this experiment.
SUBASH MALIK, via email
Epilogue Ø
L E T T E R S
Readers Write
Attacks on Indians in Australia
The kind of recent attacks on Indian students studying
in Australia has left many in state of shock, where
visual shows how mercilessly they are beaten up in
public, left some battling their lives in hospital,
outraged everybody both at home and abroad.
This is not new, it happens earlier many times in other
parts of the globe where people from this community
are living for years, studying or earning their live
hoods. Only the difference is this time almost all
leading journalists both from electronic and print
media has joined hands to address the issue at the
highest level in diplomatic and political corridors of the
country.
Because of its size and ill political will the Indian
life does not carry much value to worth engage
other mighty nation where the governments as
well as the locals don't treat their guests at par,
reasons only well known to them. Recently an
Indian student was killed in a racial attack in St.
Petersburg in Russia. Earlier during my stay in that
country I came to know about such incidents quite
often, where on some occasion there were loss of
lives too. The matter reported to police but
results are the same even Embassy staff didn't pay
much attention to that treated it as routine job.
Our voice was either suppressed or went
unnoticed.
Now thanks to the media who at least keep an eye on
these sensitive issues of great public concern. Force
our diplomats accountable to do their job more
effectively rather enjoying cocktails parties there.
This is a very grave situation and the govt. of India as
well as concerned ministries must go tough to produce
some landmark results which make us proud as an
Indian. Doesn't matter our nation is a nuclear power or
one of the largest and fastest growing economy in the
world.
Sorry to say being an Indian is not a matter of
proud………until and unless we don't care for an Indian
pride and help restore dignity and safeguard the
interests of our countrymen who represent us in
millions at every corner of this mother earth.
DR. VIKAS JAMWAL, ASCOMS & Hospital, Jammu.
6×
June 2009
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

TERRORISM
Kashmir not in 26/11 final charges
T he capture of Kashmir, touted as one of the motives
behind the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks, finds no
mention in the final charges framed in the case. A copy of
to wage a war with India and conquer Kashmir.” Ajmal later
retracted his statement in court. Dr. Shailesh Mohite, who
performed the post-mortem examination on the deceased
the charges, framed on May 6, was made available to the accused, Abu Ismail, was grilled for nearly two hours by
media. defence lawyer Shahid Azmi. When he asked whether
The charges proposed by the prosecution against Mohammad external injuries could have led to profuse bleeding, the
Ajmal Amir 'Kasab' and the other accused had listed the doctor replied in the negative. Mr. Azmi, who represents
motive of capturing Kashmir by attacking major cities in accused Fahim Ansari, tried to probe whether there were
India. bloodstains on the trousers.
In his opening address when the trial began, Special
Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam contended that the
capture of Kashmir was a definite object of the
criminal conspiracy.
While the final charges include motives such as
destabilising the government of India, an attempt to
create instability, terrorising people and weakening
India's economic might, there is no reference to
Kashmir.
Indian Penal Code sections 121A (conspiracy to wage
war, abet in or attempt to wage war against the
government of India) and 122 (collecting arms with the
intention of waging war) are part of the charges framed.
Kashmir figures prominently in Ajmal's confessional
statement. He said the Mujahideen were told to fight to
free Kashmir. In the statement, Lashkar leader Zaki-ur-
Rahman Lakhvi is reported to have said: “Now we have

TOURISM
Blessing in disguise : Recession
redirecting tourists to Kashmir
G lobal recession has failed to affect Kashmir's tourism industry as more and
more tourists continue to throng the valley.
According to the players in the tourism industry, many domestic tourists have
already cancelled their tours to European countries and are coming to Kashmir
valley. This has helped to increase the number of footfalls in Kashmir.
Even Farooq Shah, director of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir agrees that
recession has failed to affect tourism industry in the valley.
"Till now, we have received good response and recession doesn't have a major
impact on tourism. Recession has an affect throughout the world and high spending people naturally, they don't move out. But, we
are receiving a good response. This good response will continue in future too with no affect of recession on our state," said Farooq Shah.
In a situation when global recession has forced many tourists to cancel their trips, affordable hotels and transportation in Kashmir
compared to other destination have increased the number of tourists visiting the valley.
"There is a lot of global recession which is going in other countries. But Jammu and Kashmir as such is very economical. We have
been able to find out good economical hotels with good service in Jammu and Kashmir," said Shashank Kumar, a tourist.
Kashmir tourism had received a severe blow last year with the Amarnath land agitation bringing down the number of tourists.

Epilogue Ø
7×
June 2009

BUSINESS & ECONOMY
This bank for women only
Enterprising women
in Jammu and
Kashmir have
ventured to open a
women's only bank
to provide basic
banking facilities
and timely loans.
After witnessing
various cases where
major banks turned
down needy
women's loan
applications, the founding members of Kashmir Women's
Cooperative Bank were motivated to open their own venture.
The opening of Kashmir Women's Cooperative Bank is expected to
supplement the empowerment of womenfolk in the valley.
"Firstly it's an exclusive bank for women. Secondly, we have
opened this bank to help women belonging to weaker sections and
who are working or want to start their own business. Since their
requirement is less, we have started providing loans starting from
rupees 20,000," said Ashiya Saleem, Manager of Kashmir Women's
Cooperative Bank.
Apart from enabling several women to become self-reliant, the
bank also counsels the account holders in managing their earnings
and other assets.
The hassle free format to open a savings account is attracting
many Kashmiri women. "I save all my savings in my account here.
And whenever there is requirement of loan we can easily consult
the bank and easily get loan from there," said Parveena Akhtar, a
customer of Kashmir Women's Cooperative Bank.
This bank offers loans to the needy among the 'have-nots'. So far
the Kashmir Women's Cooperative Bank has provided loans to
nearly 30 women.
DEVELOPMENT
Gurez villagers yet to see electricity
E ven after more than six decades of independence and
introduction of central-sponsored Rural Electrification,
people of dozens of villages of this border town are still living
in stone age as they are using 'Mashal' (flame) for lighting up
their houses in the evening.
''Yes, it is true that people living in dozens of villages,
particularly on upper reaches, still use mashal (flame) to light
up their homes in the evening,'' the ruling National Conference
(NC) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Gurez
Epilogue Ø
8×
June 2009
NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories
CONFLICT - PERCEPTION
Guinness Book of
World Records
names Kashmir as
the largest dispute
in the world
T he Kashmir dispute has been registered in the
Guinness Book of World Records as the largest
militarized territorial dispute in the world.
The Guinness Book of World Records used the
Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) world fact book
to name the Kashmir issue, the longest dispute
between two countries.
In the latest edition of the Guinness Book of World
Records, page no. 137 of the 'wars' section reads
states : "According to the CIA fact book, the
dispute between China, India and Pakistan for
Kashmir region is the largest and most militarised
dispute."
India and Pakistan have fought three wars over
Kashmir: in 1947, 1965, and 1999. India and China
have clashed once, in 1962 over Aksai Chin
Since the 1990s, the Indian administered Jammu
and Kashmir has been hit by confrontation
between Kashmiri separatists, including militants
who India alleges are supported by Pakistan and
the Pakistan Armed Forces, and Indian Armed
Forces which has resulted in thousands of deaths
in the Valley.
constituency Nazir Ahmad Khan Gurezi says.
He said during electioneering in recent Lok Sahba polls, he
entered a house in a village late in the evening where the
inmates were sitting under mashal (flame) light. ''Though I feel
very bad, but there was no alternative I could suggest to
them,'' he said. When asked why he could not get electricity to
every village of his constituency, represented by him for the
second consecutive time in 2009, Mr Gurezi said it needed
huge funds.
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

CONFLICT RESOLUTION
'US wants India, Pakistan talk about Kashmir'
T he Barack Obama administration
would love to see India and
Pakistan re-engage in confidence-
building measures and talk about
Kashmir and other areas of difference,
according to a top defence
department official.
"There is a lot they can do to lower
tensions, and they had done a lot
before the Mumbai attacks," Michele
Flournoy, undersecretary of defence
for policy said in an interview with the
Defence Writers' Group posted on the
department website.
Part of the problem in Pakistan,
Flournoy said, is that the country still
is too focused on a perceived threat
from India. India and Pakistan have
fought three wars since the Pakistan
was born in the 1947 partition of
India, and the two countries still
maintain forces facing each other in
Kashmir. The Pakistani military is a
conventional force trained for
conventional warfare. “It's now being
used to conduct counterinsurgency
operations,” Flournoy said. “To their
credit, they have asked for help.”
"We would like to see that process
restarted. That could go a long way to
allowing the Pakistani military and the
Pakistani government to focus on the
most urgent existential threat they
face, and that's from within," she said.
Part of the problem in Pakistan,
Flournoy said, is that the
country still is too focused on a
perceived threat from India.
The Pakistani military is a
conventional force trained for
conventional warfare. "It's now
being used to conduct
counterinsurgency operations,"
Flournoy said. "To their credit,
they have asked for help."
The Pakistani military has
asked for help in
counterinsurgency training and
different equipment, but it is
going to take time to reorient
the military, she said. assistance in Pakistan is on the non-
The Pakistanis also realise the fight military side. "What we're trying to do
they are in against the Taliban in the is assist them where we are able to
northwestern provinces and the because the stakes are so great for
federally administered tribal areas us," Flournoy said.
doesn't have a "military only" solution. The new US strategy in Afghanistan
"The real issue is allowing the and Pakistan treats the area as an
Pakistani government to be able to integrated theatre of operations,
provide for the needs of the Flournoy said. "We have to regard
population in this area," the official Pakistan and Afghanistan together,
said. because each affects the other so
The people too understand the threat. profoundly."
The attacks against cricketers and "When I say an integrated strategy, I
others in Lahore "brought home the mean the enemy doesn't respect the
danger to the Pakistani people and border between the two nations," she
Pakistani government like nothing said. The Taliban and their allies travel
before," she said. "There is greater back and forth across the border
willingness to deal with this than ever constantly, she noted, and problems
before." on one side of the border affect the
The biggest growth in American other side.

The proper Gurez town
witnessed about 15 feet of
snowfall during this winter
while in the villages on upper
reaches it was more than 20
feet, he said.
Promising to take up the issue
with the government in and
outside the state assembly, he
said, the members from far-flung and remote areas,
irrespective of their party affiliation, should be given proper
time in the House to highlight the problems of their areas.
Mr Gurezi said, ''There are about 100 villages in the
constituency. Majority of them are on upper reaches, which
are deep in the forest.'' Local residents say that people in
several villages use mashal (flames) and Kerosene oil lumps for
light in the evening. These villages have not been connected
by electric wire so far even after 62 years of independence.

Epilogue Ø
9×
June 2009
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

SEPARATIST POLITICS
Mirwaiz vows to carry on struggle till Kashmir’s ‘freedom’

O
n occasion of 19th anniversary of Mirwaiz Maulvi wounded. Mirwaiz followers were heard shouting that the
Mohammad Farooq's assassination on May 21, Mirwaiz same men had been “planted” in the rally and, according to
Umar Farooq-led faction of the separatist Hurriyat them, they were the people striking on Police in downtown
Conference organized a mass congregation and called it Srinagar with continual stone pelting since the beginning of
“Election Rejection Rally”. Mirwaiz was keen to tell the world this year. Authorities are understood to have received a list of
that majority of the people in Jammu & Kashmir, according to 50 of such 'urchins' and raids were being planned to detain
him, had observed boycott to the lately concluded process of them all.
Lok Sabha elections. Even as all parts of Jammu, Ladakh and Immediately after
Kashmir valley had witnessed moderate turnout of 25% to 65%, performing his
Srinagar, Baramulla and Sopore towns in the Valley had largely afternoon prayers
rejected the Indian democratic exercise with few people in assembly at
exercising their right of franchise. Jamia Masjid,
In a significant development, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Mirwaiz led a rally
had directed the authorities to allow the separatist rally with of more than 5,000
whatever the speeches and slogans. Sources, however, of his followers to
insisted that the Government permitted the rally only after Iddgah. It took him
men of consequence in the Mirwaiz Hurriyat had conveyed to over two hours to
the authorities that there would be no law and order problem reach the venue.
and the separatists would not clash with Police or paramilitary There was thin

Senior separatist leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has threatened to revive

“2008-type mass movement” in case New Delhi failed to take substantive
measures in the direction of resolving the six-decade-long Kashmir dispute
in the next two months. Buoyed with Omar Abdullah government's
permission to Hurriyat's Iddgah rally on May 21, Mirwaiz issued a call for
“Lalchowk Chalo” on July 13th and his followers enjoyed a field day in the
capital city while shouting pro-Azadi slogans, patrolling with green flags on
motorcycles and, in the evening, burning gunny bags in front of CRPF
pillboxes in the downtown.

forces. Thus, it was for the first time since August 22 last year
that the government allowed such kind of a mass
demonstration in the Valley.
While Police maintained that it was a 15,000-strong rally,
independent estimates put the number of participants
between 16,000 and 20,000. Since yesterday itself, Mirwaiz
followers had begun patrolling of streets from downtown to
uptown, while carrying green colour Islamic flags on motorcycles
and vehicles and shouting pro-freedom slogans. There was a
pandemonium at Iddgah when a group of over 50 youth shouted
slogans in favour of Mirwaiz Umar's arch rival in the separatist
camp, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and yelled that nobody but the
Hurriyat (G) chief would represent the Kashmiris at any forum to
settle the Kashmir dispute.
The Awami Action Committee supporters shot back with pro-
Mirwaiz slogans and thrashed over a dozen of the Geelani
followers. Police reports and independent sources said that at
least eight persons were beaten up mercilessly and left
presence of Police and CRPF had been directed by the highest
authorities to remain invisible inside their bunkers. Mirwaiz
offered Fatiha at the tombs of his slain father, Mirwaiz Maulvi
Mohammad Farooq, late Abdul Gani Lone and scores of
militants and civilians killed by government forces and
suspected anti-terrorism cadres in Kashmir valley in the last 19
years of armed insurgency.
In his key address to the gathering, Mirwaiz asserted that the
people of Jammu & Kashmir had “rejected” the Indian
democratic exercise. He claimed that very few people had
participated in the elections and, as such, members of J&K
Legislative Assembly and those of the Indian Parliament had no
right to call themselves as representatives of the people. “I
challenge them to hold a rally at Iddgah and thereafter call
themselves as the peoples' representatives”, 38-year-old
cleric-politician said.
Mirwaiz vowed to carry on the struggle until the day of the
Kashmiris winning “freedom” from India. He asserted that the

Epilogue Ø
10 ×
June 2009
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

SEPARATIST POLITICS
blood of “thousands of our martyrs” would not go waste. He
stressed on reunification of all factions of the separatist amalgam
Shah out of jail after
and declared that he would work hard to recreate “1994-type
unity” among the separatist outfits in Kashmir. He said it was high
nine months
time for the Government of India to take necessary steps in the
direction of resolving the Kashmir dispute by way of holding
“meaningful negotiations” with the state's separatist leadership
S enior Separatist leader and president of
Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabir Ahmad
Shah was on May 23 released after being detained
and Islamabad. for nine months in connection with the mass
Mirwaiz asserted that assuming power or become members of agitation for the Amarnath land row. Shah,
Assembly or Parliament was not Hurriyat's agenda. He sought to executive member of Moderate faction of Hurriyat
make it clear that Hurriyat's goal was “complete freedom” from Conference headed by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umer Farooq,
India and the elections for legislative bodies could be contested was released from Srinagar Central Jail. Shah was
only after settlement of the Kashmir dispute. “Should India fail to
arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) on August
take substantive measures in the next two months, we would be
22 last year during mass agitation triggered by the
left with no option but to create a “2008-type mass movement”.
Amarnath land row.
Buoyed with the controlled success of today's rally, Mirwaiz issued a
Soon after his release Mr. Shah was received by
call of mass march to Lalchowk on the Martyrs Day of July 13 next.
dozens of party activists who straightway drove to
Proponent of boycott to elections, Mirwaiz said that Hurriyat
would not allow anybody to make a bargaining of “our martyrs' Martyrs' graveyard at Eidgah to pay homage to those
blood” with New Delhi. He wished the upcoming UPA Government who lost their lives since the eruption of militancy
to restore the process of dialogue with the Kashmiris and also take in the state over two decades back.
Islamabad on board as a primary party to the dispute. "I will not be cowed down by the detention. I will
Even as the rally continued to be peaceful till late in the continue to work for the unity of the separatist
afternoon, flocks of Mirwaiz Umar's spiritual and political camp and freedom of Kashmir," Mr. Shah told his
followers amplified their anti-India and pro-Azadi slogans while supporters. Among various charges, Mr. Shah was
passing through the CRPF bunkers on Nallah Maar Road on their slapped with PSA.
return to home. Eyewitnesses and official sources said that groups "Martyrdom and detention are part of the ongoing
of the participants set on fire empty gunny bags at CRPF pillboxes freedom struggle. Till the achievement of our goal,
at Kawdara. Thereafter, there were intermittent clashes between we will continue the struggle," he said.
the Mirwaiz supporters and Police. He appealed to Chairman of the hardline faction of
It was after months that groups of youth were seen yelling “Ragda the Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani and
Ragda NC to Ragda, PDP Ko Ragda”. They were also heard shouting Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)
anti-India and pro-Azadi slogans. Some of their slogans were chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik to support his
explicitly directed on senior NC leader and Minister in Omar efforts.
Abdullah's government, Ali Mohammad Sagar, who is now
representing people of Khanyar constituency for the 5th
consecutive term in the Assembly.
While the Hurriyat supporters were beating the retreat with anti-
NC, anti-PDP and anti-Government slogans in downtown Srinagar
in the evening, groups of NC supporters took to the streets at
district headquarters of Budgam. Led by NC's Budgam MLA, Aga
Syed Ruhullah, they shouted anti-PDP slogans and yelled that they
would not allow the PDP leaders to enter Budgam township on
Friday. Reports said that senior PDP leaders, including Shia cleric-
politicians, Malvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari and Aga Syed Mehmood,
were scheduled to hold a public meeting at Budgam tomorrow.
Sources said that the NC supporters burnt rubber-tyres and
conveyed to the authorities that they would strike on the PDP
leaders should they enter the township on Friday.

Epilogue Ø
11 ×
June 2009
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

COST OF CONFLICT
Three-year-old girl killed while fiddling with bomb
A three-year old girl was killed and her 10 year old brother were critically injured in a powerful explosion in Kashmir on
May 22. A top police official said that sister-brother duo were playing in a field at Hamla Pati, Rajwar in North Kashmir..
"During playing they found an abandoned explosive shell and started fiddling with it. During this process, the explosive device
went off, critically injuring the two," he said.
The police officer said that the duo were taken to the hospital, where the 3-year old girl identified as Rashida Bano expired
while her brother Mohammad Saleem is stated to be in critical condition. Police have launched investigations. Scores of such
incidents have taken place in Kashmir after the eruption of militancy in 1989.

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Power Center Experts: Dig J&K fields for
shifts to oil, hydrocarbons
Srinagar
E xperts have strongly advocated undertaking petroleum exploration in Jammu
and Kashmir, and asked the Oil And Natural Gas Corporation to resume its

T he civil secretariat, seat of

Jammu and Kashmir
Government, reopened in Srinagar
on May 4 amid tight security
arrangements today as part of the
bi-annual "Durbar move", under
which Government functions for
six months each in two capital
cities of Jammu and Srinagar. All
offices, including that of the
Chief Minister and his ministerial
colleagues, were closed in winter
capital Jammu on April 24. Around
7,000 employees and truckloads
of office records were shifted as
part of the more than a century
old bi-annual exercise.
The practice of shifting state
secretariat from one city to
another has been going on since
1872, the era of Maharaja Gulab
Singh and devours crores of
rupees from state exchequer.
Elaborate security arrangements
were made for reopening of the
offices as police deployed quick
reaction teams, increased number
of flying squads and covered high-
rise buildings in the vicinity of the
vital installations, including the
secretariat.
operations in the state which it had suspended twenty two years ago due to
insurgency.
The state is considered to have potentially rich rocks of two petroleum systems
and geo-thermal energy which needed to be tapped, but were subject to focused
research, they said. Dr. Bindra Thusu, professor, Maghreb Petroleum Group at the
University College London, and Professor G. M. Bhat, Geology Department,
University of Jammu, conceded security concerns in the state, but pointed out that
exploration activities and drilling were on in other violence-hit areas like Assam
and other regions of the north-east.
Delivering a presentation on “Hydrocarbon Exploration Activity in Jammu and
Kashmir State: Current Status” at a three-day international workshop on "Energy
Challenges in Jammu and Kashmir State: A case study for the Energy Research
Institute" being organized jointly by University of Kashmir, University of Jammu and
Maghreb Petroleum Research Group, University College London at University of
Kashmir, the two geo-scientists said that it was also a high time to formulate an oil
exploration policy for the J&K state.
Strongly recommending the ONGC to resume its activity in J&K, Prof Thusu and
Prof Bhat backed by the other geoscientists attending the conference suggested
that the Directorate of Geology and Mining be re-organized as the Directorate of
Energy, Geo-science and Mining and the proposed Directorate should initiate
research for hydrocarbons on the model of Gujarat Sate Oil Corporation and ONGC
should provide the data on the exploration activity done by them.
Regarding hydrocarbon prospectivity in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the geo-
scientists said that to prove an area to be potentially prospective a period of 3-5
years of research was required. J&K, they said, was already on the hydrocarbon
prospective map of India, and to find leads and prospects would take another 5-8
years of research.
Given these time constrains, they said, it was high time to formulate an oil
exploration policy for the J&K state. In this regard a modest beginning has been
made in the Geology Department of Jammu University in collaboration with
University College London and University of Lille, they said.

Epilogue Ø
12 ×
June 2009

Enhancing own resources, controlling
non-productive expenditure are our
top priorities : Rather
In the political discourse Jammu and
J&K’s annual budget Kashmir is always described as a poor
state. But if we look at the overall
for financial year 2009- profile, our state is one of the richest
10 was deferred earlier in resources. How to you explain the
economic strengths and weaknesses
this year for July for a of the state.
range of reasons - the
Our State may not be one of the. richest
new government had in natural resources. Yet it is endowed
with rich forests, good deposits of
taken over in January minerals and some unique agricultural,
and there was hardly horticulture and forest products.
Commercial exploitation of these
anytime available for resources is hampered by our State's
long distance from the main markets
exercise and most and absence of railway link with the rest
importantly there was of the country. The biggest economic
weakness of our State is its near total
no idea of the plan dependence, for most of its consumer
goods/capital goods requirements, on
size. In this exclusive
markets from outside. Thus a very large
interview to ZAFAR chunk of our States GSDP annually flows
out side for meeting these
CHOUDHARY and requirements.
DIPANKAR
Between 1996 and 2002 your party
SENGUPTA, the leader and then Chief Minister Dr
Farooq Abdullah would often say that
Finance Minister any government in Jammu and Kashmir
Abdul Rahim Rather always needs to have cordial relations
with the Central government for free
offers an insight into flow of funds. Even NC's brief alliance
with the NDA was also justified on this
the prevailing state of
pretext. How much the Jammu and
the state’s economy. Kashmir state has actually to depend
on the Center for timely and proper
Epilogue Ø
13 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
flow of funds?
The financial relations of the Centre
and the States are defined in the Indian
Constitution. The share of the States in
the income of the Centre is determined
by the successive Finance Commissions
appointed by the President of India at
intervals of five years. Their Award
determines how much share would be
received by each state during the next
five years period. The successive
Finance Commissions have been guided
by the considerations to provide the
bare minimum to the States for
maintenance, larger chunks should be
kept at the disposal of the Centre.
From out of this chunk, the Centre
meets its own requirements and also
allocates sums to the individual states
for meeting their development needs
through the mechanism of Planning
Commission. Though the plan
assistance flows to the States from the
Planning Commission on the basis of
pre-determined formulae, some
political discretion is occasionally
exercised by the Centre while
supplementing these allocations
outside the prescribed formulae. For
smaller States like that of ours,
tapping of such discretionary
assistance from the Centre assumes lot
of importance and some times
becomes crucial. Hence the need of
good working relations with the Centre
cannot be under estimated.

Please compare and contrast the
backgrounds faced by you today and
Mr Muzaffar Hussian Beig in 2002
when he assumed the finance ministry
after the PDP-Congress Coalition
assumed office. What is the state of
the government finances today as
compared to 2002 when NC left
office? What was the state of J&K's
economy in 2002 as compared to
today?
It may not be of any use to dig out the
past. It may suffice to say that the
financial position inherited by us is
precarious. The last year's (2008-09)
plan was largely funded out of the
discretionary support from the Centre
and the adverse impact of the
financial policies followed earlier
cannot be braked all of a sudden.
All the currently available
resources, including the Central
devolutions-both plan and non
plan- are fully committed to
meet only the maintenance
expenditure. Practically nil
resources are available for plan
efforts. In other words, we
have become fully dependant
on the out of way discretionary
support from the Centre for
funding our Plan. Obviously, we
cannot continue like this. The
non productive expenditure
which has been allowed to grow
uncontrolled during the last few
years will have to be controlled,
our own resources will have to be
enhanced and the Thirteenth
Finance Commission will have to
be impressed by us to take stock of
these realities and give a special
deal to our state for their Award
period. .
J&K is naturally bestowed with rich
hydel resources. But this is one such
area (electricity generation and
distribution) which is responsible for
putting state's finances in complete
disarray. Does the government the
government have any well drawn out
policy on harnessing the hydro-
electric potential? What does your
government intend to do on using the
hydro-electric potential to push the
economic growth of the state.
Epilogue Ø
14 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
Exploitation of the available hydel
resources involves massive
investments. For tapping the identified
hydel potential we require about
1,50,000 to 2,00,000 crores of
investment at current costs. We have to
also keep in view that due to the
restrictions imposed on construction of
dams on our rivers imposed under the
Indus Waters Treaty (1960) signed by
the Government of India with the
G o v e r n m e n t o f Pa k i s t a n , o u r
hydelpower generation goes down as
low as 25% of the installed capacity. This
not only causes massive loss of energy
but also increases per unit cost of
generation. We have to grapple
with this ground reality. We
have planned for tapping the
hydel potential in the
following manner:
Keeping a chunk of our
plan money for
installation of hydel
stations by our own
Po w e r D e v e l o p m e n t
Corporation.
Going in partnership
with the NHPC as also
with private players for
taking up identified
hydro electrical
project under Private
Public Participation
(PPP) mode.
Allowing the private
players to take up
execution of some of the
identified projects under IPP
(Independent Power Producer) mode.
Impressing upon the NHPC and
Government of India to expedite
execution of the projects already
transferred to them by the State.

Is there any way in which the
government can raise resources
(other than the current manner put in
place by the previous government)?
The government generally does not
intend to burden the people with taxes.
However, I feel that the rates should be
rationalized periodically to take care of
the inflation. New taxes may be added
in the areas where a common man is not
hit. None the less, we would like to
educate the people to put the right
value on the services which they avail of
from various government departments
as efficient maintenance of these
services is dependant upon the revenue
realized by way of fee or service
charges.
The state expenditure can be classified
broadly into the following six
categories:
Repayment of loans and internal
borrowings/debts
Payment of interest on such borrowings.
Expenditure incurred on salaries of the
establishment.
Expenditure on pensions
Cost of electricity purchased
Where are the areas in the budget
where expenditures (non-plan
expenditure) can be reduced?
Other over heads of the Government
each of the aforementioned items have
to be continuously kept under watch.
Unfortunately, in the last few years
borrowings have been resorted to for
funding the non plan expenditure.
Expenditure on purchase of electricity
has been over stretched. Swelling of
establishment in the non productivity
sectors has also added to the wasteful
expenditure. I see my roll in all these
areas as a perpetual regulator ready to
take correcting and balancing
measures. This is also necessary to
create a more disciplined financial
order in governance.
The Central Government has several
flagship schemes like NREGA to tackle
rural unemployment? Is there any
need in J & K to have similar schemes?
If so do you have any plans for such
schemes?
NREGA is a. central scheme which can
be utilized to generate employment
amongst the rural poor in a much better
manner. I intend to initiate immediate
corrective measures to take full
advantage of this scheme. A parallel
State scheme may not be~ necessary.
Do you think it is possible to turn
around the massive losses suffered by
the power sector in this State? If so,
How?
It is possible to make a turn around in
the revenue administration of the
p o w e r s e c t o r. S o m e t e c h n i c a l
improvements in T&D sector are
necessary and we have already initiated
action in this direction. This includes
installation of some major receiving
stations. Energy accounting is being
introduced right from the point of
generation/receiving station to the
distributors and the points of
consumption. Theft of electrical energy
will have to be curbed. These measures,
combined with a user friendly
mechanism of revenue collection, I am
sure, will make vast improvements.
One of the biggest public
expectations from your government
is job creation. But the situation
prevailing in the state is unique. The
proportion of government employees
to total population in Jammu and
Epilogue Ø
15 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
Kashmir is one of the highest in the
country but still from political class
to the common man the
unemployment is being described by
all as 'alarming'. Do you have any
plans to tackle this problem of over-
staffing and creating a public
awareness that the government
should not be seen as a sole employer
in the state? If so elaborate
We are conscious of the expectations of
our youth, particularly the educated
unemployed seeking opportunities
within the government as a career.
Additionally, we have initiated
measures for opening job opportunities
in the private sector. We are going to
create right environment and
infrastructure and take other
facilitating measures to expand
industrial base of the state at a faster
rate. We also intend to give thrust to the
areas in which unexploited potential for
self employment exists. Hoping that the
global recessionary trends shall subside
soon, we are also initiating measures to
facilitate the movement of our youth
into the national and global economic
scenario.
The concessions given to industry in
J&K have not brought in significant
investment. Is it because these
concessions are insufficient or
because they are unnecessary? Does
the actual solution lie elsewhere?
Apart from the concessions which we
may extend, the industry also takes into
account the relative advantages of a
particular location for taking
investment decisions. In a globally
competitive environment, the location
of any industry is guided by availability
of raw materials and cheap skilled man-
power as also distance from the main
markets. Another important relevant
 Toward Cleaner
Greener Future
Nodal Agency for
clean Development
SFRI
Putting Jammu & Kashmir on National
Mechanism in J&K carbon map for tapping CDM potential

Carbon Cell being

t
established at Janipur
Campus in Jammu.

Two brainstorming
t
sessions held on CDM,
carbon mapping.

Two state level

t
workshops held under
National Bamboo Mission.

MOU with SMVD University

t
and BGSB University for Joint
Collaboration in Research

J&K State Forest Research Institute

Janipura, Jammu (J&K) - 180007
Epilogue Classified Mart
because there is more to know REACH OUT TO DECISION MAKERS

factor is sufficiency of the
infrastructure such as
telecommunication net work, air and
railway connections and also to some
extent health and educational
facilities. Therefore, apart from the
concessions which we may decide to
give in future, our strategy shall be
based on the available raw materials
and skills and improvement of
infrastructure.
Prime Minister's Task Force on
Economic Recovery of Jammu and
Kashmir headed by former Reserve
Bank of India Governor C Rangarajan
had said in its report that Article 370
is one of the several impediments in
attracting investments from other
parts of country in Jammu and
Kashmir. How do you look at this
scenario?
The Rangarajan Committee made a
reference to Article 370 in the context
of the non permanent residents not
being in a position to purchase land and
immoveable properties within the
state. The impediment referred to by
you flows not from article 370, as you
know, but from the special provisions in
the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir
based on the old orders from the rulers
of Jammu and Kashmir State meant for
protecting the rights and interests of
the Permanent Residents of the state.
Such protection is available to many
other states in the country including the
states in the north east region. Our
government, during the time of the
great visionary Late Jenab Sheikh
Mohammed Abdullah had already
removed such impediment in a major
way, by amending the relevant laws to
provide for long term lease of land to
non permanent residents of the state
for setting of the industry. I do not think
that ever since then any such
impediment has come in the way of
setting up of any industrial venture
within Jammu and Kashmir.
Are there concrete plans raise
profitability in agriculture in the
State?
Agriculture is going to be our prime
focus for-the economic development of
Jammu and Kashmir. The pressure on
our agriculture land is already very
heavy. In fact the agricultural area has
been shrinking faster than it should
have. We intend to put a curb on such
tendency. The irrigated area shall have
to be increased by taking recourse to
construction of new canals and tube
wells and remodeling and renovating of
the old canals. Multiple cropping shall
be encouraged and increase in the
productivity measured in terms of yield
per hectare of land shall be the ultimate
focus of our agriculture policy.
It is reported that Democratic
Decentralization is on the cards (vide
the 73rd Amendment). How do you plan
to devolve finances to these grass
root bodies given the precarious
financial condition of the state?
The local bodies are very important in
the scheme of local self governance.
They may not frame laws but have
equal rights to participate in the
development, and to some extent
regulatory measures within their
territories. Our government is fully
committed to empower the
panchayati raj institutions and the
urban local bodies. We are seriously
examining the ways to devolve
financial support to these bodies
under a formal mechanism and allow
them to take their own decisions in the
manner of spending their provisions as
also to generate local resources which
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18 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
they can own and utilize for
community welfare.
The previous government was often
unable to spend large amounts of
allocated funds in time (which led to
the lapsing of grants). How do you
plan to tackle this problem?
Plan spending is a function of timely
sanctions, communication of out lays,
preparing the departments in advance
for execution of schemes, timely
preparation of estimates and their
technical, administrative and financial
approval; and top of all, regular
monitoring of expenditure for removing
bottlenecks, if any. All these activities
have to go on continuously in a cycle.
The movement this cycle is broken; it
creates a serious un-settling effect in
the entire process. We intend to restore
this cycle and accelerate its speed. All
the concerned officers shall be made
accountable towards their assigned
responsibilities for this purpose.
Do you have any plans to attract
service economy firms like tourism,
BPO firms to this state with
budgetary concessions? Are such
concessions required?
Each type of industry or business
requires a proper environment. Many of
the modern, vibrant business do not
seek budgetary concessions from the
local governments. As such, our
emphasis shall be mainly on providing
right environment and proper
infrastructural support to them.
Does cross-LOC trade have any
potential to beneficially impact the
economy of the state?
Cross LOC trade is in its infancy. It is
difficult to draw any conclusions at such

an early stage. However, we shall
continue to make all possible efforts for
development of cross LOC trade as it is
also very important from psychological
and emotional considerations. The
parties to the trade are operating from
the two sides of an artificial line which
has been now dismantled, at least for
purpose of cross LOC trade.
Questions are often raised on
regional disparities. Besides
'political participation' and 'decision
making', some people in Jammu have
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always complained of lopsided
funding of the region as compared to
Kashmir. As Finance Minister what
would you like to do to end the
disparities, if any, and put the finding
patterns in a transparent manner so
that nobody shoots the
discrimination arrows in the dark?
Without naming any regions or sub
regions of the state at this stage,
concerning their comparative
backwardness, I would like to clarify
that the present government is fully
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19 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
committed to do everything possible
to remove regional and sub regional
imbalances as early as possible. While
a lot of action is dependant on the
report of the State Finance
Commission which is being awaited by
our government, we intend to initiate
corrective measures through the
budgetary mechanism in the
meanwhile. The exercise for
identifying such measures and the
manner in which they should be
introduced into the budget is
presently on.
 IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections

NC-Congress gain grounds,

PDP, BJP pushed to margins

Though Kashmir's grand old party, the National Conference, returned to power earlier this year after a gap of six
years, but the parties which made real gains in the assembly elections of November-December 2008 were the
Peoples Democratic Party in Kashmir and Bhartiya Janta Party in Jammu region. Five months after their
resounding performance, the PDP and BJP now stand marginalized after their humiliating defeat in the recent
Lok Sabha elections. The bonhomie between National Conference and the Congress –the two ruling coalition
partners in the state has paid off. Congress secured two of three seats its contested and the National
Conference three all. Sixth seats went to a National Conference rebel in Ladakh who returned to the party a day
after results were announced on May 16. Next assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are more than five
years away and it clearly appears difficult for the PDP to survive the challenges of keeping their flock together.

I n total decimation of Mufti an intensely contested election. The

AHMED ALI FAYYAZ
Author is a senior journalist. He works
with Jammu based English Daily, Early
Times.
Moha mma d Sayeed's Pe oples defeat of BJP candidate Leela Karan
Democratic Party (PDP) and Sajjad Sharma –who spearheaded the two-
Gani Lone's Peoples Conference (PC) in month long Amarnath land agitation –by
Kashmir and the BJP in Jammu, the a margin over 1.2 lakh votes was a
ruling National Conference (NC) made a significant aspect of results in the
clean sweep on all the three Lok Sabha region.
seats in Kashmir valley and the Congress
won two seats in Jammu region. While SRINAGAR-BADGAM
NC's Dr Farooq Abdullah, Dr Mehboob In the Central Kashmir Lok Sabha
Beg and Sharief-ud-din Shariq turned constituency of Srinagar-Budgam, NC's
out to be the winners in Valley, NC's Dr Farooq Abdullah defeated PDP's
clandestinely supported independent Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari with a
candidate, Ghulam Hassan Khan, substantial margin of 30,242 votes. Of
registered his victory over the senior the 2,82,761 votes polled in 15 Assembly
Congress leader and the ruling
coalition's official candidate, P
Namgyal, in Ladakh. Losers in Valley
include PDP's Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain
Ansari, same party's former Ministers Pir
Mohammad Hussain and Mohammad
Dilawar Mir, PC Chairman Sajjad Lone as
also the Awami National Conference
(ANC) chief and Dr Abdullah's sister,
Khalida Shah. In Jammu, the sitting
Members of Parliament of the Congress
–Madan Lal Sharma and Choudhary Lal
Singh –defeated the BJP candidates in

Epilogue Ø
20×
June 2009

segments of Srinagar, Budgam and
Ganderbal districts, Dr Abdullah bagged
1,47,035 and his nearest rival Mr Ansari
secured 1,16,793. An independent,
Mohammad Illyas Kumhar, got third
position with his 4,540 votes and the
ANC President, Khalida Shah, stood 4th
with just 2,855 votes.
There were 15 candidates in the fray
and 11.06 Lakh citizens were entitled to
exercise their franchise in the polling
that was conducted in 15 Assembly
segments of Central Kashmir with
modest turnout of 25.5% on May 7th.
The coalition-sponsored, Dr Abdullah,
and PDP's high-profile cleric-politician,
Ansari, were the key contestants
ANANTNAG-PULWAMA
In the South
Kashmir Lok
S a b h a
constituency of
Anantnag-
Pulwama, NC's
Dr Mehboob Beg
defeated PDP's
Pir Mohammad
Hussain with a
margin of 5,224
votes. Of the
3,18,697 votes polled in 16 Assembly
segments of Anantnag, Pulwama,
Shopian and Kulgam districts, Dr Beg got
1,48,317. He was followed by PDP's Pir
Hussain, who secured 1,43,093 votes.
The third position went to an
independent, Nazir Ahmed Bhat, who
polled 5,981 votes.
With total electorate of 11.66 Lakh in 16
Assembly segments of South Kashmir,
there were 13 candidates in the fray in
South Kashmir where polling was held
on April 30th with modest turnout of
27.3%. The ruling coalition-sponsored,
Dr Beg, was in a neck-and-neck fight
with PDP's Pir Hussain.
BARAMULLA-KUPWARA
In the North Kashmir Lok Sabha
constituency of Baramulla-Kupwara,
NC's Sharief-ud-din Shariq defeated his
nearest rival, PDP's Mohammad Dilawar
Mir, with a massive margin of 64,814
votes. Of the 4,41,234 votes polled in 15
Assembly segments of Baramulla,
Kupwara and Bandipore districts, the
coalition-sponsored Shariq bagged
2,03,022. PDP's Dilawar Mir stood
second with 1,38,208 votes in his favour.
Separatist-turned-mainstream political
leader, Sajjad Lone of PC, had to be
content with the third position while
getting 65,403 votes.
There were 13 candidates in the fray in
North Kashmir which recorded turnout
of 41.9% in the polling conducted on May
13th in 15 segments of Baramulla,
Kupwara and Bandipore districts. Nearly
10.53 Lakh voters were entitled to
exercise their right of franchise. NC's
Shariq, PDP's Dilawar and PC's Sajjad
Lone were the key contestants.
While making a total sweep on all the
three Parliamentary seats in Valley, NC
did not spare even the Assembly
segment of Sonwar in Srinagar for which
by-election took place alongside the
polling for Lok Sabha seat of Srinagar-
Budgam on May 7th. Election
authorities said that NC's Mohammad
Epilogue Ø
21 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
Yasin Shah defeated PDP's Mohammad
Ashraf Mir with a thin margin of 50
votes. While Shah polled 9,306 votes,
Mir followed him closely with 9,256.
ANC's Muzaffar Shah got just 1,115
votes. In fact, the day's most dramatic
result came from Sonwar where the PDP
candidate maintained minor lead until
the penultimate 10th round. It was in
the final round that the NC candidate
got decisive 48 out of the migrant votes
polled which took his final lead to 50.
In the main Assembly elections too,
Sonwar had proved to be a high drama
battleground between the NC and PDP
in December 2008. NC's Dr Abdullah had
won this seat with a tiny margin of 94
votes. Beneficiary of about a hundred
migrant votes, Dr Abdullah had polled
7,018 against then PDP candidate,
Sheikh Ghulam Qadir Pardesi's 6,924
votes. Given the fact that Pardesi had
thereafter defected to NC and the
Congress candidate, Khem Latta
Wakhloo, who polled 6,301 votes, was
also today on the coalition candidate's
side, PDP has put up a tough fight in
Sonwar. PDP's debutante, Ashraf Mir,
who has been twice NC's MLA from
Hazratbal (1987) and Sonwar (2002) was
pipped at the post, falling just 51 votes
short of the magic figure.
LEH-KARGIL
In the Lok Sabha constituency of Leh-
Kargil, in Ladakh regions, an
independent candidate, Ghulam Hassan
Khan, defeated the ruling coalition's
official candidate and senior Congress
leader, P Namgyal, with a margin of
3,684 votes. While Khan polled 32,701
votes and Namgyal stumbled on 29,017
votes. Both the potential contestants
were closely followed by former chief of
Hill Development Council, Kargil, Asgar
Ali Karbalayi and another independent
Ms Thinley Angmo. Official said that
Karbalayi got 24,498 and Ango 22,717.

Another independent, Ghulam Murtaza,
polled just 642 votes.
With total electorate of 1,52,391, four
segments of the Lok Sabha constituency
of Ladakh---comprising two each
segments in Leh and Kargil districts---
went for the polling with huge turnout
of 71.9% on May 13th. There were five
candidates in the fray. While Khan and
Namgyal were considered to be the top
candidates, Karbalyi and Angmo had
jumped into the fray and disturbed all
calculations of the major political
parties.
With result going in Mr Khan's favour,
initially the ruling coalition's safest seat
of Ladakh has ultimately proved to be a
paradox for Congress party. In the seat
sharing between NC and Congress, the
former had claimed Leh-Kargil for it had
won three of the four segments in the
Assembly elections of 2008. Even as
Congress had bagged one-odd segment
of Leh proper, Congress had forced NC
to surrender Ladakh and left all three of
the Valley's seats---including the PDP's
stronghold of Anantnag-Pulwama, for Dr
Abdullah's party. With the combination
of hard work, strategy and luck, NC
today captured the coalition's weakest
seat in South Kashmir seat but Congress
lost the coalition's safest seat in Ladakh.
THE LADAKH CONSPIRACY
After NC failed to get the coalition's
ticket for the influential Islamia School
and Khomeni Trust-supported Ghulam
Hassan Khan, he jumped into the fray as
an independent against the Congress
leader and the coalition candidate, P
Namgyal. While Khan had joined NC
after his retirement as DIG in J&K Police
and successfully contested Lok Sabha
election from Leh-Kargil in 1999,
Namgyal has been a member of
Parliament, Union Minister of State for
Tourism as also a member of the J&K
Legislative Council.
History has repeated itself in Ladakh. In
1989, during the seat sharing for Lok
Sabha elections, NC had got Leh-Kargil
and given its ticket to Hassan
Commander. However, the power
partner, Congress had clandestinely
fielded and supported Namgyal.
Namgyal defeated the NC candidate and
formally joined Congress in a few days.
In 2009 elections, Khan too deserted his
party (NC) and contested as an
independent while reportedly enjoying
NC's clandestine support. Consequently,
he succeeded in defeating the senior
Congress leader. Like, Namgyal's act in
1989, Khan too is expected to join back
NC but much would depend on the
coalition partner's reaction.
Epilogue Ø
22 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
Considering Khan as an NC proxy, the
ruling coalition has won all the six Lok
Sabha seats in the results declared
today.
In Valley, PDP's Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain
Ansari, who is believed to have got a
major chunk of the Shia vote, had posed
a considerable threat to Dr Farooq
Abdullah in the NC's impregnable
bastion of Srinagar-Budgam. However,
thanks to less impact of the Hurriyat-
sponsored boycott in the rural districts
of Budgam and Ganderbal, NC
maintained an impressive lead and
finally won this seat with a margin of
over 30,000 votes. NC's main vote came
from Kangan, Ganderbal, Chrar-e-
Sharief, Beerwah and few other
segments.
However, NC's most remarkable
achievements came from the PDP
stronghold of Anantnag-Pulwama in
South Kashmir as also from North
Kashmir where, PC's Sajjad Lone, was
believed to be enjoying superiority over
both NC and PDP in Kupwara district.
The PC chief was in for a shock for he
failed to establish lead even in his twin
home segments of Handwara and
Kupwara, where NC maintained margin
of two to three thousand votes each.
Again, it was neither PC nor NC but the
incumbent PDP that maintained lead in
Lolab segment. With the support of
independent MLA, Sheikh Abdul Rashid
alias Engineer, NC scored lead of over
4,000 in Kupwara's Langet segment.
Still, Sajjad Lone, who made his debut
in contesting the elections, got 65,000
votes. NC, however, has been
perceptibly disappointed over turnout
as well as its share of the vote polled in
Uri where its candidate, Shafi Uri, and
the winner Congress nominee, Taj
Mohiuddin, had polled over 46,000
votes in the Assembly elections of 2008.
Vi c t o r y i n t h e S o u t h K a s h m i r
constituency of Anantnag-Pulwama has

indisputably come as NC's biggest
achievement as the party, now in power,
had won only Noorabad segment out of
16 in the Assembly elections. PDP had
bagged 12 segments. Besides, NC had
failed to get number two position in as
many as seven segments. Previously, in
Assembly elections of 2002, NC had won
just two seats against PDP's 10. Earlier,
in Lok Sabha elections of 2004, PDP's
Mehbooba Mufti had defeated NC's Dr
Mehboob Beg with a good margin,
though in very poor turnout polling.
In Lok Sabha elections of 1999, NC's Ali
Mohammad Naik had defeated PDP's
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who contested
as an Independent but in 1998 Lok Sabha
elections, then Congress party's
candidate, Mufti Sayeed, had defeated
NC's Mohammad Yousuf Taing in South
Kashmir. Thus, it is after seven years
that NC has managed to uproot PDP on
its home turf in Valley, though with the
advantage of support from Congress and
CPI (M) coupled with largely successful
Hurriyat-sponsored boycott.
UDHAMPUR-DODA
In Udhampur-Doda constituency, four
Singhs were in a close contest among
the 14 candidates for the but it was
Choudhary Lal Singh who retained the
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
seat by beating his close rival by
a margin of over 13,000 votes.
Lal Singh and Dr Nirmal Singh of
Bhartiya Jhanta Party, Professor
Bhim Singh president of
National Panther Party and
Balbir Singh from the People's
Democratic Party were vied
against each other. With this
victory, Choudhary Lal Singh
has completed victory for
second term as he won in 2004
by defeating Professor Chaman
Lal Gupta of BJP. The other
candidates in fray included
Adrees Ahmad of CPI, Rakesh
Wazir of BSP, Rajesh Manchanda
of Rashtriya Krantikari Samajwadi old stalwart and sitting Member
Party, Master William Gill of All India Parliament Madan Lal Sharma. Sharma
Forward Bloc and the remaining Atul beat his close rival and Bhartiya Janta
Sharma, Dr Bodh Raj, Kanchan Sharma, Party's Leela Karan Sharma, former
Dev Raj, Mohammad Yousuf and Naresh convener of the Amarnath Sangharsh
Dogra were contesting as independents. Samiti that spearheaded the land row in
summer last year, by a huge margin of
nearly 120,000 votes. Congress won it in
In 1967 elections, Udhampur
1967, 1971, 1984, 1989, 1996 and 2004
constituency was represented by
while BJP, candidate Vaid Visho Dutt
Congress candidate Brg. Ghansara Singh
won the seat in 1998, and 1999.
while as in 1971 midterm polls, the
Congress leader Inderjeet Malhotra had
constituency was represented by Dr.
won the election for two successive
Karan Singh again on a Congress ticket,
terms in 1967 and 1971 while Janata
In 1977 Lok Sabha elections, the seat
Party leader Thakur Baldev Singh was
was again won by Dr. Karan Singh as INC
elected from the seat in 1977 as an
candidate. In the midterm 1980
Independent candidate. In 1980,
Parliamentary elections, the seat was
Congress again wrested the seat with
yet again won by Dr. Karan Singh,
Girdhari Lal Dogra getting elected. In
however, this time on INC (U) ticket. In
1984 and 1989, Congress candidate
1984, the seat was won by G. L. Dogra as
Janak Raj Gupta represented the seat
INC candidate while as in 1989 General
while Lok Sabha election was not held in
Election, Udhampur seat was won by
the State in 1990 due to security
Dharam Chand of INC, in 1996 the seat
reasons. In 1996, Congress leader
was won by Janak Raj Gupta on a BJP
Mangat Ram Sharma was elected from
ticket. In 1998 and 1999 elections,
the Jammu-Poonch segment. In 2002
Professor Chaman Lal Gupta of BJP
by-election held after the death of BJP's
represented the constituency.
Dutt, National Conference had won the
seat for the first time with Choudhary
JAMMU-POONCH Talib Hussain emerging victorious.
Even though there were 21 candidates During the last elections in 2004, Madan
in fray for the Jammu-Poonch Lal Sharma wrested the seat against
parliamentary segment, the contest defeating 25 candidates including his
was eventually won by ruling congress's nearest rival Dr. Nirmal Singh of BJP.
Epilogue Ø
23 ×
June 2009
 IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections

ANSWERS TO ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Prof. Rekha Chowdhary comments
on significant aspects of
Lok Sabha Elections 2009
REGIONAL PERCEPTIONS
Elections come with a different
ground perception in three regions of
J a m m u a n d K a s h m i r. P l e a s e
comment, separately, on regional
response to Lok Sabha elections in
Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh.

E
lections, like any other political
activity in Jammu and Kashmir
reflects the internal divergence
in the state. This is how the divergence
was reflected during the time of Lok
Sabha elections:

In Jammu, the Lok Sabha elections were

seen almost in the similar manner as
anywhere else in India. The stakes here
were between the BJP and the
Congress, although the National
Conference was also an important
player. Since these elections followed
the J&K Assembly elections in which BJP
had been able to win as many as 11
seats, its expectations were
heightened. The Congress had taken lot
of beating during the Assembly
elections, but having formed the
government in alliance with the
National Conference, it wanted to
retrieve the ground that it had lost to
the BJP during the State elections.
In Jammu region, the question which
provided the major context of the Lok
Sabha elections was related to the
impact of the Amarnath agitation. The
BJP expected that it could translate the
mobilization of the Hindu/Jammu
sentiments raised during the agitation
in terms of its victory in both the seats
of Jammu-Poonch and Doda-Udhampur
constituencies. However, there were
other factors which were operating at
the same time. Firstly, people in
Jammu were making their own
assessment about the agitation and
the communal and divisive direction
that it had taken at certain points.
They were also making assessment
about their personal material gains
and losses, The decision of the BJP to
nominate Leela Karan for the Jammu-
Poonch constituency had made people
rethink both about the role of the
Sangharsh Samiti as well as the of BJP
during the agitation.
Mood in Kashmir was altogether
different. After the massive
participation of people during the
Assembly elections, the separatists had
started mobilizing people for the
boycott politics. Boycott politics had a
better chance this time since people in
Kashmir were not similarly positioned
towards the Parliamentary elections as
they were towards the Assembly
elections. The stake of the separatists

Epilogue Ø
24 ×
June 2009

in the boycott politics had increased
after Sajad Gani Lone, a prominent
separatist, decided to contest the
elections. There was therefore greater
intensity of the boycott politics as well
as greater response.
Ladakh was more located in its local
issues. Generally, the Parliamentary
elections in Ladakh bring to the focus
the Leh-Kargil divide on the one hand
and the Buddhist-Muslim divide on the
other. However, the inner difference
within the Muslim politics of Ladakh is
also assuming importance. The
competition is therefore between the
Islamia School and Imam Khomeini
Memorial Trust. Knowing its strength in
Ladakh, the NC was keen on contesting
this seat while conceding the Anantnag
seat to Congress. But Congress insisted
on contesting from Ladakh. Though
officially the NC agreed for P Namgiyal
as the joint candidate of alliance,
however it did not work for his victory.
Hasan Khan, the candidate of the party
filled in the nomination paper as an
independent candidate and won the
election with the implicit support of
NC. The fact that Hasan Khan was
supported by Islamia School made all
the difference.
IN COMPARISON WITH LAST YEAR’S
ASSEMBLY POLLS
Assembly elections in November-
December 2008 saw a huge public
enthusiasm in all parts of state. In Lok
Sabha elections not only was there a
sharp decline in voter percentage but
also an absence of enthusiasm. Why
this change in scenario in a short span
of time.
T
he enthusiasm that was shown in
the Assembly elections in Jammu
and Kashmir was missing during
the Parliamentary elections. A number
of reasons can be attributed for this.
Firstly, people had a sense of proximity
with Assembly elections as these were
seen to be closely related to their day-
to-day lives. This sense of proximity was
missing during the Lok Sabha elections.
The votes cast during the Assembly
elections are directly related to the
formation of government and the voters
have a direct stake in the government
that is formed after the elections – more
so since 2002 Assembly elections. The
2002 Assembly elections not only ended
the era of one party dominance and
ushered in coalition politics but also
brought about the factor of
unpredictability of the outcome. There
are a number of possibilities as to which
party will form the government, or
which alliance will be formed after the
elections. Hence the competition level
has increased and therefore the
intensity of electoral process has also
increased. All the political parties
mobilize voters to the maximum level
and the voters also respond by coming
out in large numbers to vote. It matters
Epilogue Ø
25 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
to voters a lot as to who is going to be
elected from his/her constituency and
also who is going to form the
government. However, there is no
similar response of voters during the
Pa r l i a m e n t a r y e l e c t i o n s . T h e
constituencies are large and the MP may
not be accessible to the voter, the way
the MLA can be. Moreover, there is not
that much stake for the voters in the
formation of national government.
Secondly, the Assembly election took
place immediately after the Amarnath
agitation which had mobilized people
politically within the state. That
mobilization was reflected to some
extent during the Assembly elections. In
Jammu specifically there was
unprecedented mobilization of men
and women during the agitation. People
had been highly politicized and this
seems to have a definite effect in their
level of electoral participation during
the Assembly elections. The
Parliamentary election in contrast took
place in a situation when there was a
sense of political withdrawal. With the

emotions raised during the agitations
getting subsided, there is a general
mood of introspection and rethinking
about the nature and the outcome of
the agitation and the gains that people
had and the losses that they had to
suffer. There is also a rethinking about
the role of political parties during the
agitation. This has led to a sense of
political withdrawal which has been
reflected during the Parliamentary
elections.
The enthusiasm that the people in
Kashmir had during the Assembly
elections was not reflected during the
Parliamentary. Governance is becoming
important to people and therefore their
choice as to Which party forms the
government and which MLA is elected -
is important irrespective of the fact
that he/she supports separatists.
People therefore showed their
determination to come out and vote
during the Assembly elections, even
ignoring the separatists' call for
boycott. The Parliamentary elections
do not matter that much and hence
people are not that enthusiastic to
vote. The boycott call of the separatists
therefore could become quite
effective.
Not voting in Parliamentary elections
was also a message that many Kashmiri
voters might have wanted to give to the
Centre - that their participation in
Assembly elections in huge numbers
should not be construed as their complete
rejection of the separatist politics.
A CAMPAIGN REVOLVING AROUND BJP
Even a cursory scan of the statements
and speeches made by the Peoples
Democratic Party and the National
Conference leaders across Kashmir
Valley reveals that both parties used
alleged linkages with BJP and Sangh
Parivar to prove each other's
communal character. Was BJP a major
poll agenda in Kashmir?
M
o r e t h a n B J P, i t w a s
communalism which seemed to
be the major issue of the
Parliamentary elections. This is the
logical consequence of the Amarnath
agitation which brought the state to the
brink of inter-regional and inter-
community tension. Throughout the
period of agitation, there was a
communal basis of political
mobilization both in Kashmir as well
as in Jammu. Interestingly though
the leaders of agitation both in
Kashmir as well as Jammu denied
communal orientation on their part
and blamed the leadership of the
other side for being communal.
However, in the end the agitation did
leave the bad taste of communalism
and generated an anxiety among the
people about the future inter-
community and inter-regional
relations. Being a mixed society,
communal response cannot be openly
owned by the political actors here and
the politically correct position remains
in favour of secular politics. It is in this
context that one can see the response
of the political parties seeking to assert
their secular credentials by blaming the
other of having linkages with the
communal parties and politics.
FALL OF PDP & BJP
Seen in comparison to the 2002
assembly elections, the Peoples
Democratic Party (in Kashmir) and the
BJP (in Jammu) emerged as major
gainers of the 2008 assembly
elections. PDP improved from 16 to 21
assembly seats and BJP from 1 to 11
seats. Four months later both parties
have suffered humiliating defeats, in
Lok Sabha elections, even in their
Epilogue Ø
26 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
traditional strongholds. Please
comment on rout of these parties.
F
irstly, it was the strategy of the
coalition partners – NC and
Congress to contest in alliance
that benefited them. This helped them
to gain in the Valley vis-à-vis the PDP
and in Jammu region vis-à-vis the BJP.
During the Assembly elections the
Congress and the NC had contested
against each other and hence the vote
was split. The nature of competition
was certainly different in the
Parliamentary elections. It was almost a
straight fight of the NC-Congress
combine with PDP in the Valley and with
BJP in Jammu. During the Assembly
elections, it was a more in the nature of
a multi-cornered contest with not only
NC, Congress, PDP and BJP fighting
against each other but with others also
joining the fray.
However, the way the NC could sweep
the three seats in the Valley and the
Congress could take both the seats in
Jammu – reflects a definite change of
mood since the Assembly elections. The
buoyancy of the BJP, which could
register its victory in 11 Assembly seats,
had raised the hopes of this party for
the Parliamentary elections. Though
both the seats of Jammu have remained
the traditional strongholds of the
Congress, the BJP could gain from the
communal polarization during the peak
of militancy and win both the seats
during the 1998 and 1999 Parliamentary
elections. However during the 2004
elections it lost both the seats, its
expectations in the post-Amarnath
agitation were quite high and it
assumed its victory this time as well –
given the intensified mobilization by
this party in the Hindu dominated areas
of the region and the consequent
polarization between the communities

that was reflected during the period of
agitation. However, the effect of the
mobilization by the BJP does not seem
to be lasting. Though the it could get a
large number of votes from Hindus
(exceeding its hold from 11 Assembly
segments to 13), yet it failed to get the
advantage of winning the seats like it
did in 1998 and 1999. It could not get all
the Hindu votes of the region. The
Congress could get a substantial
number of Hindu votes. (The NC-
Congress combine also gained in the
region – with lead in 21 Assembly
segments as compared to victory in 19
seats during 2008 Assembly elections).
The PDP faced similar situation in
Kashmir. Unlike its earlier performance
during the 2008 Assembly elections, it
could not make a mark in the Valley. It
had not only to face defeat in all the
three seats of the Valley, but what is
worse – it lost in its stronghold of South
Kashmir. Interestingly, during the 2008
elections the NC could register its
victory only in one Assembly seat in this
Parliamentary constituency and it was
not even in second position in many of
the Assembly constituencies.
Since the PDP was very sure about its
victory in the Anantnag Parliamentary
constituency, its defeat on the contrary
has been very embarrassing for the
party. More embarrassing is the fact
that in the two Assembly segments
represented by Mehbooba Mufti and
Mufti Syed, the NC has performed very
well.
WHAT HAPPENED TO AGITATION ICON
At one point of time, Leela Karan
Sharma, the convener of Shri
Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti
(that spearheaded two-month long
aggressive agitation in Jammu in
summer 2008) claimed to represent
entire Jammu region. “His samiti
described that agitation as agitation
of aspirations of the people of
Jammu”. The BJP as a whole and
many leaders in Congress, at that
moment, behaved as followers of
Leela Karan, apparently to protect
their electoral constituencies under
his patronage. Such results were
evident in the Assembly elections. But
the same man contesting elections on
BJP ticket suffered an embarrassing
defeat with a margin of 1.2 lakh votes.
How do you look at the Jammu
agitation of 2008 a year later?
O
ne definite message that is given
by the voters during the
Parliamentary elections in
Jammu region is that politics here
cannot be controlled by the rightist
forces for a long time. People might
have been temporarily swayed by the
emotions raised during the Amarnath
agitation, but that is not the normal
political mood of the region. In
defeating Leela Karan Sharma by such a
big margin of votes, the people have
distanced themselves not only from the
politics of Amarnath agitation but from
the communal politics per se. in very
certain terms people have shown their
antipathy towards the forces that aim
Epilogue Ø
27 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
at mobilizing them on religious basis,
polarizing them on communal grounds
and generating tensions within the
region.
Seeing Jammu agitation a year later,
one can make four broad conclusions:
firstly, there is a standing regional
discontent which not finding a secular
basis of political articulation can easily
be used by the Rightist parties and
politics. Though manifested in religious
terms, the major reason for the mass
mobilization was regional rather than
religious. The communal elements
which generally remain at
the margins of Jammu's
politics, seek to appropriate
the regional discontent at
any time they can and
change the very direction of
popular responses.
S e c o n d l y, t h e n a t u r a l
direction of politics of
Jammu is quite secular and is
manifested in secular
manner in a variety of ways.
The plurality of Jammu as
well as its multi-layered
social and political dynamics
compels the regional politics
to take a secular shape. Thirdly,
however, in the absence of a secular
regional politics that takes into
consideration not only the sensitivities
of the Hindu-heartland of Jammu region
but also carries within itself the
political concerns of the backward sub-
regions at the periphery, the politics has
all the possibilities of becoming
communally divisive. Fourthly, the
communally divisive politics is not only
dangerous for the Jammu region but for
the whole state. As the agitation
showed, this has implications of shifting
the ethnic and regional identity politics
to a religion-based politics and
redefining it on the communal basis.

THE DIFFERENCE SAJJAD LONE MADE
Sajjad Lone is certainly not the first
separatist to have contested elections
in Kashmir. While Imran Rahi was also
fighting in same constituency and
Engineer Rashid, Bilal Lodhi, Kukka
Parray and Usman Majid etc are some
of the earlier examples. He has not
performed so well in the
constituency, hitherto believed as his
pocket-borough. There is an
important question here. In the battle
between separatists and mainstream
leaders/parties for appropriation of
role in Kashmir, what is significance of
Sajjad's participation in elections?
T
here is a significant difference
between those separatists and
ex-militants who participated in
mainstream politics and Sajjad Lone's
participation in the recent elections.
Lone has been a prominent separatist
whose People's Conference (PC) has
been one of the constituent of the
Hurriyat. A G Lone, the father of Sajad
Lone and the founder of the People's
Conference was one of the key member
of the Hurriyat. As a high-profile
separatist, Sajad Lone, even after being
expelled from the Hurriyat Conference
(after the participation of a few proxy
candidates of PC in 2002 assembly
elections) continued to be operating
within the separatist fold and not only
presented his own vision of 'Achievable
Nation' for the resolution of Kashmir but
also had a meeting with PM Manmohan
Singh in 2005 (when he was meeting
other leading separatists including the
Mirwaiz led Hurriyat leaders and Yasin
Malik). So unlike other militants and
separatists, Lone was a much more high
profile separatist leader in whose
decision to contest election, one can
see a crack within the separatist politics
per se. The crack may be very small –
not seeming to affect the separatists
overtly but in reality it has had a great
psychological effect on them. More so
since Lone's decision to contest election
came in the wake of the massive
participation of Kashmiris in the
Assembly elections.
The idea of electoral participation is
not new to the PC. During the life time
of A G Lone, the idea was associated
with A G Lone. Much before the 2002
Assembly elections, there was
speculation that he was considering
participation in elections. However, he
was assassinated before the elections.
During the 2002 Assembly elections a
few proxy candidates of the People's
Conference had contested elections.
Similarly during the 2008 Assembly
elections also a few members earlier
associated with the PC had jumped the
fray, even when Sajad Lone had
disassociated himself from these
contestants. Sajad Lone's sister had also
contested the 2008 elections.
In understanding the impact of
Sajad Lone's participation in the Lok
Sabha elections, it is important to
Epilogue Ø
28 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
understand the fact that Sajad is
leading a political party which has
its organizational base, cadre and a
support structure. Even when he
has lost the election, the role of the
PC remains important. With Sajad
choosing to join the electoral fray,
the PC has once again undergone a
transformation – from a separatist
to a mainstream party which has the
major purpose of expanding its base
and sphere of influence so as to
determine the nature of power
politics. This makes the regional
politics of Kashmir more
competitive – with PC entering the
electoral arena which is already
quite competitive between the NC
and PDP.
Percentage of J&K
Congress 24.67%
JKPDP 20.05%
JKNC 19.11%
BJP 18.61%
BSP 3.10%
JKNPP 2.81%
CPI 0.64%
LJP 0.32%
AIFB 0.27%
SP 0.08%
Other/Ind. 10.34%
UPA & PEACE PROCESS
What significance does UPA's return to
power at Center holds for the peace
process in Jammu and Kashmir and
dialogue with Islamabad?
N
ow that UPA has returned to
power at the Centre, it is
expected that it will accelerate
the peace process which has been
stalled for past few years. As regards
the dialogue with Pakistan, the UPA
would be in a position to continue the
process without much pressure from

Percentage of All India
Congress 28.52%
BJP 18.83%
BSP 6.18%
CPM 5.34%
NCP 2.04%
CPI 1.43%
RJD 1.27%
Other 36.40%
the opposition. Though the impact of
Mumbai is still felt on the peace
process, yet UPA would be interested
in continuing the process. Already
the UPA has shown its inclination to
deal sternly with Pakistan around the
issue of militants responsible for
Mumbai attacks and at the same time
appreciate the ground level situation
in Pakistan and the internal security
crisis that it is facing. What it needs
to do now is to resume the peace
process that was stalled in the wake
of Mumbai attack.
Internally, the UPA has to build upon the
success that it had in holding a
participatory and legitimized Assembly
election during 2008. The fact that the
Congress is sharing power with the NC in
the state makes it all the more
imperative for the Central government to
take some visible measures in re-starting
the internal peace process. Already
there is lot of impatience in Kashmir
about the stalled peace process. One of
the reason as to why there was so much
of mass mobilization during the first
phase of Amarnath agitation in Kashmir
– was due to the accumulated feeling
among people that in the context of
heightened electoral activities (much
before the elections, the political
parties had started organizing huge
electoral rallies), Kashmir issue is being
sidelined and there is no movement
forward in the peace process. The feeling
continues to be manifested in numerous
ways in the Valley.
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
The UPA however has to define the this it is expected that the UPA would
direction of its policy vis-à-vis be initiating steps which will not only
internal dialogue. During the last send positive signals to the people of
phase of its governance, it shifted this state but will also take interest in
the direction of dialogue from restoring the internal dialogue.
direct talk with the separatists to
the Round Table Conferences. For the NC to get a positive feed back
Though Round Table Conferences from the people, it is important that the
succeeded in bringing to the table ground level situation be changed.
divergent political groups across the There are two important things where
ideological lines, and later in the the State government would be
constitution of the Working Groups interested that Centre should pay
most of which have given very attention – firstly engaging the
valuable suggestions in their separatists in dialogue ( both CM and
Re p o r t s , h o w e v e r s i n c e the Farooq Abdullah have been showing
separatists opted out of the Round hope that it would take place now) and
Table Conferences, the process secondly, improving the Human Rights
remained ineffective. In order to situation in Kashmir.
address the separatist
sentiment in Kashmir (which
despite the massive
participation of people in
Assembly Elections, remain
alive and kicking) the
separatist leadership needs
to be engaged in a dialogue.
There are enough
indications that UPA would
be paying attention to
Kashmir.
The existing relationship
between the Central and the
State government also makes
it imperative for the Centre
government to pay special
attention to Kashmir. Since
NC has a post-poll alliance
with the Congress in the
State and it is a part of the
UPA government – there is a
smooth relationship between
the two governments. Omar
Abdullah has a very cordial
relationship with the Central
leadership and now Farooq
Abdullah has taken the
charge of Minister with a
cabinet rank, In the light of
Epilogue Ø
29 ×
June 2009

Why Congress Won and
Why BJP Lost?
F irst the winner. The unexpected
victory for the Congress party led
UPA in the Lok Sabha elections
might be a baffling experience for many
political analysts and commentators, it
has certainly given stability to the
country. But why did the people give
mandate to the Congress party? There is
no doubt about the policies and
programmes that the UPA followed prior
to the elections that people endorsed,
and in spite of all the hard hitting
criticism by the BJP, Manmohan Singh's
initiatives have been accepted. Among
the core issues on which the UPA
M SHAMSUR RABB KHAN government was tested and tried were
Author is Editor with the Indian Institute
of Dalit Studies focus on development, Indo-US nuclear
Epilogue Ø
30 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
deal, stand on terrorism and diplomatic
victory over Pakistan.
As I travelled more than a dozen cities
and villages across Bihar just after the
elections and asked people why they
preferred Congress led UPA, the
common reply from the villagers was:
National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (NREGS) that benefitted the
poor. Well, in Bihar, along with UPA, the
credit also goes to Nitish Kumar. In
Manmohan, people saw serious business
and development of the country, rather
than hollow shouts and cries that the
BJP was indulged in all through the
election campaign. Programmes like

NREGS have really helped the poor.
Whatever be the expert opinion on Indo-
US nuclear deal, people viewed it as no
less than a landmark event. They
believed Manmohan Singh is very
genuine a person in making this country
strong, prosperous and peaceful.
Mumbai attack could have proved
waterloo for the UPA. It did not. Since
the way Manmohan Singh acted made it
possible for the first time that Pakistan
had to accede its role, and that was a
big diplomatic victory. So, without going
in for military intervention, Manmohan
Singh scored points in India's fight
against terror. His reticent style, his
gentleman image and his scholarship
have had the appealing effect on
voters. Above all, the constructive
politics of Manmohan Singh, rather than
destructive politics of Advani proved
decisive. While UPA kept itself busy in
highlighting its work, BJP had no agenda
but to find fault in everything the
Congress did. Rahul and Sonia added
valuable contribution in reaching out to
the people and conveying the right
message.
Now, the loser. A few core issues proved
disastrous for the BJP: election
campaign strategy, one-man brand for
PM post, double standard on terrorism
and internal dissent. And in spite of
gargantuan and aggressive media
campaigns, BJP's performance in the
election 2009 falls surprisingly short of
expectations. The party will, as is the
wont, surely evaluate the possible
reasons, but perhaps not those that are
discussed here.
First, take up election campaign
strategy. Not many people notices when
I pointed out faults in the BJP's election
campaign before the voting started,
especially the advertisements that the
party put up and the speeches the top
leaders delivered throughout the length
and breadth of constituencies. 'Strong
Leader, Decisive Government' was the
most hyperbolic deception and highly
uncalled for advertisement: neither
Advai has been strong-willed leader
albeit he has been falsely labelled as
iron man nor the BJP has been a decisive
government ever – at least on issues like
Babri Masjid/Ramjanabhoomi dispute,
or prosecution to the culprits of Gujarat
riots. Via this widely publicised
advertisement, the BJP tried to give a
macho image of 81-yearl Advani, not
knowing that people have enough proof
of the weaknesses of this veteran BJP
Prime Ministerial candidate – from his
failure to fulfill the promise of
constructing a grand Ram Temple at
Ayodhya when he was at the helm of
affairs, or his inaction to stop the
pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat or his
consent during the Kandhar hijack
issue, or his stand on terrorism. If
Advani's physical health (in comparison
to Singh's ailments and operations) what
the advertisement means, then the BJP
has so many younger and stronger
leaders.
Another populist promise, in order to
woo young voters, the BJP via Advani
made was to provide loan to student
community at 4 per cent that seemed as
if the strong leader of the BJP was
asking favour in a sophisticated style in
lieu of a favour. The desperate sense of
urgency mixed with far-fetched
promises got exposed to the people, as
Advani tried to do impossible possible.
When I saw a few youth at Lajpat Nagar
bus stop laughing at the advertisement
with a picture of Vijay Goel 'Soch Hai
Nai, Kaam Kiye Kai (We have a new idea
this time, we have done some great
works), I was surprised as well as
Epilogue Ø
31 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
saddened; surprised at the minds who
produced and directed such
advertisements for the BJP and sad
because how BJP leaders were to trying
to befool the nation, especially the
citizens of Delhi. Behind the poetic
rhyme of Goel, there was no content
except false sense of achievement and
far-fetched imagery that could hardly
impress anyone. As a result, the party is
whitewashed 7-0 in Delhi.
Next strategy of the election campaign
was the tricks and tactics based on
which countless speeches were fired by
the BJP leaders with a single focus:
post-mortem of the UPA (read Congress
party), personal attacks on its leaders
including the Prime Minister and
baseless criticism of developmental
works under the UPA regime. Rather
than going positive by counting its own
accomplishments, the BJP harped on ad
hominem (attacking the person than the
subject) or finding faults on the
opposition from every dais and forum.
And while along with educated Indians,
illiterates like to love positive aspects,
the BJP showed the electorates the
darker picture of the UPA regime in
order to justify their claims that BJP is
good because Congress is bad. That is a
defeatist strategy. Or raking issues like
dynasty rule of Nehru family, foreign
origin of Sonia Gandhi and Muslim
appeasement, the BJP sounded very
lowly while trying to convince the
people that everything was wrong with
the Congress.
Interestingly, voter studied the
contributions of Advani and Singh after
the latter inquired about the former's
role in national development, in
response to the former's accusation that
the latter was the weakest Prime
Minister, and the rivalry between the

two got momentum when the former
challenged the latter to have a man-to-
man TV talk. But the aggressive posture
of Advani to outwit the reticent Singh
proved fatal as the idea boomeranged
badly. Silence of Singh prevailed over
loud oratory of Advani. Even some
political analysts favoured such a live
talk between the two, as in the US and
elsewhere.
Advani as Prime Ministerial candidate
was the biggest mistake that the BJP
made at the outset since a great
majority of the people in this country
didn't approve him to assume the PMO.
The verdict is very much in this line.
Even in his party open dissent and
disapproval were heard loudly,
sometime from Arun Shourie,
sometimes from others, as Adavni was
pitched against Modi in the midst of
Advani versus Singh campaign.
Like what it did to Sirajudollah in the
battle of Plassey, internal clash and
conspiracy worked as the last nail in the
BJP's coffin. And for those Shouries and
Jaitleys, it is time to learn and think the
role of Modi as well. He may be
succeeding in Gujarat, and that is
because he has to show some good work
to get rid of the stigma on his person
that he been carrying since 2002 post-
Godhara riots, people on all India level
will surely not going accept a diehard
Hindu Modi but a secular Indian Modi.
Like Lalu Yadav used to crack jokes in his
unique rustic style and the spectators
burst into bouts of laughter, Modi, with
a sense of pride for his oratorial skill,
did the same thing while finding faults
with Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka. And as
Lalu failed to translate all the laughs
into votes this time, Modi is also going to
witness this the next time.
No less culprit has been the BJP's stand
on terrorism: not only it exposed its
intention to prosecute Muslims via
tougher laws but also it revealed its
double standard when the party
openly supported Malegaon accused,
who happened to be Hindus. More
precisely, the BJP came strongly
against any sort of probe into the Batla
House encounter, and came down
heavily on the Vice Chancellor of
Jamia Millia University for announcing
legal help for those who were
arrested, while it asked for CBI enquiry
into the Malegaon accused case and
Like what it did to
Sirajudollah in the battle of
Plassey, internal clash and
conspiracy worked as the last
nail in the BJP's coffin. And
for those Shouries and Jaitleys,
it is time to learn and think
the role of Modi as well.
demanded immediate sacking of
Hemant Karkare (even called him
deshdrohi) for a job well done. It
conveyed to the citizens that it does
not have a definite stand on a serious
issue like terrorism. Educated voters
and concerned citizens watched and
weighed all this and taught the party a
big lesson that constructive, not
destructive, politics will only work in
this country. The BJP's performance
might well have been more disastrous
had there been no pre-poll rift
between the Congress and the RJD and
the SP.
And lastly, the very tone and tenacity
of the BJP leaders gave the impression
Epilogue Ø
32 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
that only this party, along with its
leaders, is true nationalist and saviour
of the nation. Even worse has been
linking nationalism with aggressive
Hindutva, which leaves no room for other
parties and groups to display such a
claim. Moreover, this is a strategy to
garner Hindu votes via cornering
disgruntled groups like Muslims and
Christians. For example, the threatening
speech of Modi about teaching a lesson to
those who killed Swami Luxmanand in
Orissa and keeping mum over those killed
in Kandhamal riots showed the
exclusive focus of the BJP while
handling conflicts though he never
visited the state during the elections
and apologized to the audience for
this. Had Modi been a just person and
an able administrator, as some claim,
he would have pointed out both the
issues in the same vein. He did not.
Like the Congress, as the BJP
accuses, the party had been busy in
appeasing Hindus throughout the
campaign. Meanwhile, Kalyan factor
came as an embarrassing setback.
Work alone, the political must wins
hearts that bestow power upon leaders
to rule. Sheila Dixit, Nitish Kumar, Shiv
Raj Singh Chauhan and Y Reddy are the
examples for the moment. They have
done some good work and the people
rewarded them to rule. They don't
indulge in false rhetoric and divisive
politics, and therefore, people put faith
on them. In contrast, no one should
think that Lalu Yadav will have Muslim
votes forever. Modi will not have Hindu
votes forever either. People have
greater sense to pick parties and
candidates for voting.
Will the BJP leaders talk sense next
time?
 IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces

SONIA GANDHI, Rae Bareli

The lady who lived upto the hype

C
ongress president Sonia Gandhi got elected from Rae Bareli seat defeating
her nearest rival R S Kushwaha of BSP by a margin of 3.72 lakh votes. In 2004,
Sonia Gandhi, was third most powerful women in the world and in 2006 she
was sixth, according to respected Forbes magazine. While congress-led UPA
government was ruling, Sonia was named by Time magazine as one among 100 most
influential people in the world in 2007 and 2008. She was first elected as MP from
Gandhi fiefdom Amethi in UP in 1999 which is now seen over by her Rahul Gandhi.
Sonia is also sitting MP from nearby Rae Bareily Constituency.
A widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated by Tamil
Tigers in 1991, Sonia is Italian born but since her marriage to Rajiv in 1968, she
lived in India and became the fifth person from Gandhi family to be the president
of Congress party in 1999. Under her leadership, the party turned in its worst
performance since independence in the 1999 general elections. Sonia was
reported to have an aversion to politics for long and even opposed Rajiv entering it
by threatening to divorce him. She now holds the record of having served as
Congress chief for 10 straight years!. Sonia's foreign birth has also sparked intense
debate in 2004.Sonia famously turned down the Prime Minister's post in 2004 and
earned a name Saint Sonia.
National Rural Employment Generation scheme, a food-for-work scheme is widely considered as Sonia's idea as also the Right to
Information Act. Sonia and her children Rahul and Priyanka, are also estranged from Maneka Gandhi, the widow of Rajiv's younger
brother Sanjay Gandhi, and her son Varun Gandhi, who are with opposition BJP.

LK ADVANI, Gandhi Nagar

Last pilgrimage of the yatri

L K Advani is the leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and

BJP's prime ministerial candidate for 2009 General
Elections. One of the most controversial, yet the most
enduring figures in Indian polity, Advani has been in the
limelight for his public advocacy of Hindutva. Born in Karachi
(before Partition), he joined the RSS in 1942.From a two-MP
party in 1984, Advani, as president, took BJP to power in less
than 15 years! He was the Home Minister in the Vajpayee
government and served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India
from 2002 to 2004
In 1990 he undertook a nation-wide rath yatra which led to the
fall of Babri Majid in 1992 even though rivals still accuse
Advani for dividing the country on communal lines which is
against India's principled stand of a secular nation.
Advani's rath yatra campaign roused a whole new generation
and drew crores of middle class supporters to the BJP.
Controversies aside, Advani is perhaps the only Indian
politician to have leveraged the Obama-style of new media campaigning. He has his website and runs a blog that's
regularly updated.

Epilogue Ø
33 ×
June 2009

MAMATA BANERJEE,
Kolkata South
Fiery, firebrand Bengali
T
rinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee defeated
CPI(M) candidate Robin Deb by a margin of 2,12,362
votes in Kolkata (south) Lok Sabha constituency.
Mamata Banerjee is a firebrand leader from West Bengal.
She is a harsh opponent of the CPM in West Bengal. She
started her political career with Congress(I), and as a young
woman in the 1970s, she quickly rose in the ranks of the local
Congress group. In 1984, she became one of India's youngest
parliamentarians ever, beating veteran Communist
politician Somnath Chatterjee. In the Rao government
formed in 1991, Mamata Banerjee was made the Union
Minister of State for Human Resources Development. In
1997, Mamata parted ways with the Congress, alleging that
Congress was behaving as a stooge of the CPI-M in West
Bengal and established the All India Trinamool Congress. It
quickly became the primary opposition to the long-standing
Communist government in the state. She became the
Railway Minster in the NDA government in 1999. In early
2001, after making allegations against the BJP, she walked
out of the NDA cabinet and allied with the Congress Party for
West Bengal's 2001 elections, amidst speculation that the
move could unseat the Communist government. She
returned to the cabinet in January 2004, holding the Coal
and Mines ministry until the 2004 Elections. In the 2009
elections, she forged an alliance with the Congress to take
on the CPM.
Epilogue Ø
34 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces
M.SINGH YADAV, Manipuri
King of caste politics
T
hree time Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi
Party founder president Mulayam Singh Yadav wield the
image of a `king maker' in Indian politics. Like most
other regional party leaders, Mulayam always chased power, be
it in Centre or his home turf, UP.
Born in 1939, Yadav excel in caste politics and often labeled as a
political opportunist by his friends and foes alike. He became
UP chief minister for the first time in 1989 and continued till
1991 and then founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992. He got a
second chance as UP chief minister from 1993-95 and also held
the post from 2003 to 2007. He won his first Lok Sabha elections
in 1996 and became the Union Defence Minister. He was re-
elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004 but did not
resign as Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
In 1980, he became the president of the Lok Dal. Later the Lok
Dal became a part of the Janata Dal. He then joined Chandra
Shekhar's Janata Dal (Socialist) party. On October 7, 1992, he
founded Samajwadi Party. During the course, he changed his
allies from BJP. Congress and BSP. His stand on movement for
demanding separate statehood for Uttarakhand was as much
controversial as his stand on Ayodhya movement in 1990 was.
A staunch supporter of Hindi, Mulayam is also known for his
anti-English stance. Mulayan is facing CBI inquiry on charges of
amassing wealth disproportionate to his known income. This
includes misuse of government funds for personal use.
MURALI M. JOSHI, Varanasi
Physicist of RSS ilk
M
urali Manohar Joshi, a hardliner in BJP, is more in
sync with the RSS objectives than most other leaders
in the party. Murli too had prime ministerial
ambitions which the present BJP's official Prime Minsiterial
candidate L.K. Advani effectively negated through shrewd
moves. BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was in two
minds about Murli who was the Human Resources minister in
Vajpayee cabinet as he was seen supporting the RSS agenda
and others found him as an embarrassment.
A PhD holder, Murali, was a Physics teacher in Allahabad
University and while in Delhi came in close contact with RSS.
During Emergency period in 1975-77, Murali was jailed and
took a plunge into politics soon after by joining Janata Party.
In 1980, Janata Party split and BJP was formed and Murali is
a tall leader ever since.
 IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces

DEVA GOWDA, Hassan

Silicon valley’s rural face

J
anata Dal (S) leader Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda, better known as
H D Deve Gowda began his political career as a Congress worker in Karnataka
in early 50's. With the pro-farmer plank, Deve Gowda was intrumental in
forming the third front alliance in 1996 and served as the country's Prime Minister
for barely 10 months.
He is the president of the
Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S)
political party in India and
currently a member of
Parliament (MP) representing
his home town Hassan district
in Karnataka. The JD-S had
formed a coalition with the
Congress party government
led by Dharam Singh. There
are allegations of nepotism
owing to his two children H.D.
Revanna and H.D.
Kumaraswamy being powerful
in this government. Revanna had served as a minister in that government. A Civil
Engineering Diploma holder, Shri Deve Gowda plunged into active politics at the
early age of 20 when, after completing his education, he joined the Congress Party
in 1953 and remained a member till 1962. Coming from a middle class agrarian
background and exposed to the hardships of farmer's life, young Gowda vowed to
become a fighter who would take up the cause of poor farmers, under privileged
and oppressed sections of society.

VARUN GANDHI, Pilibhit

Icon of hate politics

V
arun Gandhi is the son of late Sanjay Gandhi and executive. BJP
Maneka Gandhi, the son and daughter-in-law of decided to field
the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. In Varun Gandhi from
August 1999, at the age of 19, Varun Gandhi was the Pilibhit Lok sabha
introduced to the political arena by his mother, seat for general
Maneka, when she was campaigning in her constituency, election 2009. He
Pilibhit. In February 2004, he joined the Bharatiya hogged limelight
Janata Party along with his mother after being after Uttar Pradesh
convinced to do so by BJP general secretary late Chief Minister
Pramod Mahajan. His joining the BJP was hyped by Mayawati detained
Mahajan claiming that "With Varun joining BJP, half the him under National
Congress will be with us..." Varun was used as a star Security Act, which
campaigner by the BJP in the 2004 elections. In was later revoked by
November 2004, he was inducted into the BJP national the Supreme Court.

Epilogue Ø
35 ×
June 2009

RAHUL GANDHI, Amethi
Heir apparent
emerges hero
T
he heir apparent of Gandhi family, Rahul is
considered as prime minister in waiting not
in 2009 but in near future. Since 2007 Rahul is
the general secretary of Congress and looks after
youth wing of the party - the Youth Congress. He is
studiously building up an image and working hard to
come of his famous parents - late Rajiv Gandhi and
present Congress president Sonia Gandhi. He
became an MP for the first time from Gandhi
family's pocket burrow Amethi in 2004, a decision
which surprised many. A shy, Rahul too was
considered as a reluctant entrant to politics who
loves to watch cricket. But the party elders thought
he can win over new and young voters. His sister
Priyanka was touted to enter politics earlier. He is
also known as party's backroom operator. It was
through Rahul's efforts that Congress could forge an
alliance with Jammu and Kashmir's National
Conference and the Abdullahs.
Epilogue Ø
IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces
RAJNATH SINGH, Ghaziabad
Driver of hindutva ideologies
R
ajnath Singh is a prominent Indian politician and the current
President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the largest
Opposition party in India. He was initially a Physics lecturer,
but soon used his long-term connections with the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh to get involved with the Bhartiya Janata Party,
which led him to numerous positions within Uttar Pradesh. Rajnath
Singh has entered the BJP while it was in a crisis of sorts, after Atal
Bihari Vajpayee lost power in the 2004 general elections, forcing the
BJP to sit in the Opposition. On December 24, 2005, following the
resignation of Lal Krishna Advani, the BJP and the RSS made him the
party president. After the resignation of Advani and the murder of
party strategist Pramod Mahajan, he sought to rebuild the party by
focusing on the most basic Hindutva ideologies. He has announced
his position of "no compromise" in relation to the building of a Ram
Temple in Ayodhya.
YASHWANT SINHA, Hazaribagh
The man who presented
budget at 5 PM
A
former IAS officer and a
lecturer in Political Science
at Patna University,
Yashwant joined Janata Party in
1984. He was the Finance Minister
in Chandra Sekhar cabinet for a
few months and in Vajpayee's
cabinet he also served as Foreign
Minister later. While as IAS officer,
Yashwant served as Sub-Divisional
Magistrate and District
Magistrate; Under Secretary and
Deputy Secretary in the Finance
Department of the Bihar state
government; Deputy Secretary,
Ministry of Commerce in New Delhi and was also First Secretary
(Commercial) in the Indian Embassy in Germany and also was
Consul General in Frankfurt. He held various other important
positions in both Bihar and Union governments before quitting
civil service in 1984. After a brief stint with Janata Dal, he joined
BJP in mid 1990s. Sinha is better known for being the first Finance
Minister to break the 53 year tradition of presenting the national
budget at 5pm.
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Prominent Faces

SHARAD PAWAR, Madha

Maratha who transcends barriers

S
harad Pawar is more than just the head of the Nationalist Congress Party. He is
one of the few politicians to enjoy support from parties across regions and
ideologies. A powerful farm minister in the Manmohan Singh government, he
derives much power from his post as India's cricket chief, and his sugar-exporting
constituency in Maharashtra.
He has held the posts of Defence Minister of India and Chief Minister of Maharashtra
and served as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and
Public Distribution, Government of India in the Manmohan Singh government. Known
to cherish burning prime ministerial ambitions, Pawar made a serious bid to become
the prime minister after the 1991 polls following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi,
but Narasimha Rao outsmarted Pawar by taking the top post for himself, while
accommodating Pawar as a defence minister. For the past few months, Pawar has
been making deft moves to become a consensus choice for the top post. As political
parties negotiated ahead of the elections, Pawar's supporters floated his name as a
prime ministerial candidate. Pawar also has been hobnobing with the Left to push his
prime ministerial dreams.

JAYA PRADA, Rampur

Star ‘spoiler’ of
(Samajwadi) Party

B
orn as Lalita Rani in a middle class family in Rajahmudry
in Andra Pradesh, actress Jaya Pradha was initiated into
politics by Telegu Desam Party (TDP) former supremo N T
Rama Rao in 1994.
She later broke away from him and joined the
Chandrababu Naidu faction of the party. She was
nominated to the Rajya Sabha representing Andhra
Pradesh in 1996.
Following differences with party Supremo N. Chandrababu
Naidu, she left TDP to join Samajwadi Party and contested from
Rampur parliamentary Constituency in UP during the last
General election in 2004 and got elected. In 2009 her
candidature became a serious point of contention within the
Samajwadi Party and brought Amar Singh and Azam Khan out in
open conflict.
Jaya Prada was subjected to a vicious public campaign,
morphed naked pictures and CDs of her were distributed. She
broke down on national television and admitted having
contemplated suicide. Followers of Azam Khan had even filed
a complaint with the police accusing Amar Sigh for prompting
the politician turned actress to commit suicide, incase she
loose the election.

Epilogue Ø
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Prominent Faces

SUSHMA SWARAJ, JASWANT SINGH, Darjeeling

Vidisha The flyer of Kandahar plane
Hardline strategist
J
aswant Singh is one of the towering leaders of the BJP. Hailig
from Rajasthan, he was an officer in the Indian Army in the

S
ushma 1960s and is an alumnus of Mayo College and the National
Swaraj Defence Academy (India), Khadakwasla. He served as Finance
is one of minister in the short-lived government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
the most which lasted just from May 16, 1996, to June 1, 1996. After Vajpayee
prominent became Prime Minister again two years later, he became Minister for
female External Affairs of India, serving from December 5, 1998 until July 1,
politicians 2002. Jaswant was in the centre of a controversy after he
within the accompanied terrorists released from Indian jail to Khandahar
Bharatiya airport in exchange for the Indian passengers held hostage by
Janata Party, ultras. Responsible for foreign policy, he dealt with high tensions
currently the between India and Pakistan. In July 2002 he became Finance
chairperson Minister again, switching posts with Yashwant Sinha. He served as
of the party's Finance Minister until the defeat of the Vajpayee government in
19 member May 2004 and was instrumental in defining and pushing through
campaign the market-friendly reforms of the government. He was conferred
committee the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the year 2001.
for the 2009 Currently he is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
General
Elections.
Sushma
Swaraj is a
former union
cabinet
minister of
India. She is
also a former
chief
minister of
Delhi. In
1999, she took on a high profile as she contested
against the Congress party's President, Sonia
Gandhi, from the Bellary constituency in
Karnataka, which had returned Congress winners
since India's independence. The fervent, high-
pitched campaign came to an end with the
expected loss of Sushma. Gandhi polled 51.7
percent of the vote, Swaraj coming not too far
behind with 44.7 percent. In a heavily publicized
and emotionally charged episode following the
2004 elections, Sushma Swaraj threatened to shave
her head, don a white saree and eat groundnuts
(symbollically mourning) if Sonia Gandhi, the
Italian-born Congress leader, became Prime
Minister.

Epilogue Ø
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Prominent Faces

P CHIDAMBARAM, Sivaganga
The maker of dream budget

C
hidambaram's defeat in Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu in the first round of polling shocked
the UPA circles. But the UPA leadership heaved a sigh of relief after he was declared
elected in the recounting. Chidambaram is a senior member of the Manmohan
Cabinet.
A lawyer by profession, P Chidambaram began his political career as a member of the
Congress Party. PC first got elected to Parliament from the Sivaganga constituency in Tamil
Nadu in 1984 and became a Deputy Minister under the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Later, he held the Commerce & Finance portfolios in various governments.
In the elections held in 2004, United Progressive Alliance formed the Government and P
Chidambaram once again became the Finance Minister.
Economists acclaim his "dream-budget" for 1996-97, in which he brought discipline in
government spending and launched an ambitious tax reform programme to tackle an
unwieldy fiscal deficit. His daring scheme to halt tax evasion, or Voluntary Income Disclosure
Scheme, invited accolades.
In the Budget of 2008, his move to waive off farmers' debt has played a role in boosting
aggregate demand in the Indian economy, thereby effectively insulating India from the
impact of recession. In 2008 he moved to the Home portfolio. As the home minister he has
initiated steps to bring various agencies that are responsible for law and order together and work in a cohesive manner.

MANEKA GANDHI, Aonla

The environmentalist and separated Gandhi

B
haratiya Janata Party leader and five-time MP Maneka considered as India's political first family. Against
Gandhi was declared elected from Aonla heavy odds, she worked her way launching a
constituency in Uttar Pradesh, defeating her political party named after her husband,
nearest rival Dharmenda Kashyap of the Samajwadi Rashtriya Sanjay Manch emphasising on youth
Party (SP). The gamble to vacate her long-time seat but later joined Janata Dal in 1988 and served
of Pilibhit for son and BJP candidate Varun Gandhi as the general secretary of Janata Dal and
and shift to Aonla paid off for Maneka Gandhi. served as Minister of the Environment
In Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi had created from 1989 to 1991 in the V.P. Singh
controversy with his purported hate cabinet. Both in 1996 and 1998, Maneka
speeches against Muslims for which he was reelected to the Lok Sabha as an
was put behind bars by UP Chief independent member from Pilibhit in
Minister Mayawati under National Uttar Pradesh and served in the BJP led
Security Act which was later revoked governments as Minister of State for
by the Supreme Court. Social Justice and Empowerment, and
Maneka is higly regarded as animal Minister for Culture. While as minister
rights activist and environmentalist. She she created the Department for Animal
is also a former editor of Surya, a widely Welfare and played an important role in
respected magazine, authored several the pension reforms through Old Age
books one on Indian names and above all, Social and Income Security (OASIS)
she is the widow of Sanjay Gandhi and now which went on to become the
estranged from the Gandhis, who are celebrated New Pension System (NPS) .

Epilogue Ø
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June 2009