National Conference is the latest to depart
Regardless of whether the National Conference or the Congress took the first call to end the alliance, the truth is that the partnership between the two parties in Jammu & Kashmir has broken ahead of the Assembly election due in a few months' time. Whether they will re-join hands after the result or seek new partners is a matter of speculation for now. For the moment, the Congress has lost yet another key ally and the United Progressive Alliance it leads stands further eroded. Already in the past couple of years, prominent parties such as the Trinamool Congress and the DMK had walked out of the UPA. Yet another important partner, the Nationalist Congress Party, has been sending out disturbing signals off and on to the Congress on its prospects of remaining with the alliance ahead of an Assembly election in Maharashtra. The Congress, which until recently boasted of its ability to effectively manage coalitions and ridiculed the Bharatiya Janata Party for failing to attract allies, is not just depleted but also left alone in States where its performance depends on strong regional partners. In Tamil Nadu, it contested the lok Sabha election on its own and was decimated. A similar fate seems inevitable for the party in Jammu & Kashmir, and in Maharashtra if the NCP walks out. As it is, even in partnership with Mr Sharad Pawar's party, the Congress is expected to perform below par in the coming State election. In the midst of these glum prospects, the last thing the Congress needed was another jolt. Its relationship with the National Conference of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had begun to sour months ago, and only Mr Abdullah's personal equation with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi kept the alliance alive. The disastrous result in the lok Sabha election, where both the Congress and the National Conference drew a blank in the State, was the last straw to break the camel’s back.
While both the National Conference and the Congress believe that they can put up a better show if they contest against each other, the ground reality could turn out to be different. Both the BJP and the PDP are on the rise, as the lok Sabha election result demonstrated. The National Conference, which was the main partner, had managed a lead in just over a dozen of the 87 Assembly segments. As for the Congress, it had to struggle to even register a significant presence. The National Conference obviously believes that the Congress had become a liability, whereas the Congress feels that it can take a stronger position on national issues such as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act without the National Conference as its partner.
Given the acrimony that has surrounded the parting of ways, it will be surprising if the Omar Abdullah Government in the State, a coalition between the now separated partners, completes its remaining term. There is far too much distrust between the Congress and the National Conference to allow seamless functioning in governance. Both parties will probably use the remaining time to run each other down in the hope of gaining the upper political hand ahead of the Assembly election. In such a situation, one wonders what purpose can be served with the continuance of a sham coalition regime.