last Sunday afternoon, thousands of people in Kashmir valley frantically came out on the streets and escorted their children to hospitals in whatever mode of transport they could find.
A rumour had gone viral that the pulse polio vaccines were poisonous and had caused death to several infants in south Kashmir. Thousands of people thronged the hospitals, doctors were beaten up, and caused damage to properties. It took authorities a great deal of effort to douse the wildfire rumour.
At around the same time, core group leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party gathered at the residence of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, to discuss political matters in a five-hour marathon meeting.
The meeting, the first of its kind after the PDP patriarch’s death on January 7, ended in putting another set of political rumours to rest. It turned out that the PDP will not walk away from the alliance with the BJP and PDP co-founder Mehbooba Mufti will take the final call on Government formation.
But unlike the rumour on polio vaccination that was negated as ‘baseless’, the gossip on the PDP’s possible break-up with the BJP was set rolling by the party itself. A grief-stricken Ms Mehbooba Mufti refused to take oath immediately after her father’s demise. It was understandable till the fourth day or even till the end of the seventh day of state mourning, but she continued to remain reclusive. In the meantime, some leaders of the PDP expressed reservations on continuation of the alliance with the BJP.
A senior PDP leader and MP Tariq Hameed Qarra even suggested in a letter to Ms Mehbooba Mufti to re-visit the unprecedented tie-up “that opened floodgates of BJP and RSS in a Muslim-majority State”.
Ms Mehbooba Mufti’s confidant Naeem Akhtar even went public, asserting that his party required to weigh the gains (or losses thereof) of its alliance with the BJP during the Mufti’s 10-month tenure. He complained that the developmental agenda of the State was not satisfactorily implemented. Citing examples, he said no power project was handed over to the State (by the National Hydro Power Corporation) nor did Jammu & Kashmir get any share when Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the smart cities project in the country.
However, after the Sunday marathon that was chaired by Ms Mehbooba Mufti, Mr Akhtar’s tone changed. He showered encomiums on Mr Modi for his lahore stopover to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and described the Modi-Sharif meet as a moment of glory and the last happy moment for the Mufti, who, he said, had watched the development from his death-bed in Delhi.
Mr Akhtar did not refer to any discord with the BJP. In contrast to his earlier assertions, he described the agenda of the alliance as a sacred document (penned down by Mr Modi and the Mufti last year as a political and developmental roadmap before entering into the alliance) and vowed to adhere to its implementation in letter and spirit. Interestingly, unlike others who supported the continuation of alliance with the BJP, Mr Tariq Qarra chose to remain silent .
The core group meeting essentially cleared the decks for Ms Mehbooba Mufti’s elevation to the hot seat. She has been given full leeway to choose the timing for her oath-taking ceremony to become the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir. One wonders as to why the PDP created doubts on its re-engagement with the BJP, and within a matter of days unilaterally backed out to sing paeans on its “historic alliance” with the BJP.
Ms Mehbooba Mufti’s options are limited. The manipulation of numbers does not favour the prospect of her party, should she attempt fiddling with it. Going by the public mood, she cannot risk going for a mid-term election. The PDP leadership realised the fact that not many people turned up when separate funeral prayers were organised for the Mufti in Srinagar and Bijbehara, his hometown.
Business continued as usual when the news of his death broke. People say that the Mufti’s tie-up with the BJP followed by his ‘surrender’ on crucial matters took a toll on his political persona. He had gained support of the people (in then election) to keep the BJP out of Jammu & Kashmir.
People, who have a soft corner for the Mufti, also felt that Mr Modi did not treat him well. The flood relief package was delayed and finally came as a paltry component of `80,000 economic package in November last. The actual package remained stuck till the Mufti breathed his last.
Mr Modi did not go to see him in the hospital nor did he attend his funeral. All he did was to lay a wreath on the Mufti’s coffin at Palam Airport. The people connect it with the “snub” Mr Modi gave to the Mufti at a public rally in Srinagar when he refused to accept anyone’s suggestions on Kashmir.