Fissures continue to deepen in Gupkar alliance as parties differ on district council polls

Parties don’t arrive at consensus for Jammu region, with the Congress fielding its own candidates, some of whom are pitted against those from the alliance.

File photo of members of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah and others during a press conference at Jammu, on 7 Nov 2020 | PTI

Srinagar: The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a conglomerate of regional and national political parties in Jammu and Kashmir formed to demand the restoration of Article 370, seems to be failing the “unity test” ahead of the first District Development Council election to be held from 28 November.

Fissures had already emerged on 11 November, a day before the last day for filing of nominations for the first phase of elections, as there was no consensus on seat sharing in the Valley where the alliance is supposed to have more sway.

Now, its reach and sphere of influence are also coming into question as the partners in the conglomerate are fighting against each other even in Jammu division.

Moreover, the Congress party, despite being a signatory to the Gupkar Declaration, has made it clear that its involvement with the alliance is purely restricted to the DDC polls. The party has also fielded its candidates in opposition to those from the alliance in some seats of the Kashmir region.

“Initially, the PAGD was caught in a fix over participating in the polls over fears it would end up appearing to have normalised the Modi government’s 5 August decision,” a senior alliance leader told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.

“It was then decided that we will fight as a unit,” the leader added. “In fact in meetings held before announcing our decision, many partners were of the view that we should fight the polls under a single symbol flag of the erstwhile state of J&K adopted by the alliance. It has been a downhill journey since then and if this continues we will fail the unity test.”

Spate of issues

ThePrint had on 11 November reported that the alliance did not reach a consensus on seat sharing.

However, it was after the intervention of senior National Conference leader and Srinagar MP, Dr Farooq Abdullah, that an agreement was reached.

The agreement was, however, limited to only the 27 seats in Kashmir and the alliance did not release a consensus on over 15 seats in Jammu, which are supposed to go to polls in the first phase of the DDC elections.

Furthermore, while after a consensus was reached on the first phase of elections, there was no agreement on the remaining seven phases.

Around half a dozen meetings have so far taken place between various alliance partners and yet the PAGD has released lists of its candidates for the first two phases of the DDC polls in just the Kashmir division.

“The current conflict is not between leaderships of the regional parties but the second and third-rung leaders, some of whom have been ex-ministers and ex-MLAs,” a senior politician privy to the developments told ThePrint. “These leaders believe that by adjusting other party candidates or the PAGD candidates in their bastions and constituencies, their own influence in the area will diminish.”

“It is also about competition and show of power,” the politician added. “Every party wants to prove to the central government and to the world that they have people’s support.”

The problem in Jammu

According to multiple politicians who spoke to ThePrint, Jammu region has two main tussles — one between the Congress party and the NC and the other between the NC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

With no list of candidates issued by the PAGD for Jammu seats, the elections have been virtually turned into a battle between all parties in J&K but prominently between NC, PDP, Congress and BJP.

“The alliance, particularly the Congress and NC, reached some kind of agreement in less than 10 per cent of seats going to polls in the first and second phase,” said a source in the PAGD. “The parties developed some understanding in some seats in Rajouri, Poonch, Banihal and so on but the remaining seats are open. For instance, in Reasi’s Mohar seat, the PDP wanted their district president but the NC wanted its former minister to prevail.”

The Congress, in absence of a list of candidates for Jammu seats, issued its own list of 24 candidates including 13 in Jammu and 11 in Kashmir, where it is fighting those from the PAGD and the BJP.

“The Congress, after being defeated in other parts of the country, wants to yield influence in grassroot level politics in J&K. That is understandable but the NC is a different story,” said a second PAGD source.

“The belief within the PAGD is that a very senior leader from Jammu and a close aide of Omar Abdullah is not comfortable with NC being in alliance with PDP,” the source added. “The leader believes that being with PDP will not only hurt NC’s non-Muslim voter but also allow PDP to make inroads into Muslim belts in Jammu such as Chenab Valley and the Pir Panchal. But Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Sajad Lone are on the same page.”

Another politician in the PAGD disagreed. “NC is of course the oldest party in J&K and knows how to conduct politics and more importantly negotiate,” the politician said. “That is where the rest of alliance partners are falling behind. They don’t know how to negotiate when the NC or the Congress want the lion’s share for themselves.”

Tussles in Kashmir

Among the 27 PAGD candidates whose names were released by the alliance last week, 21 were from NC, four from PDP and two from the Sajad Lone-led Peoples Conference (PC).

But in damage control mode, NC leader Farooq Abdullah is believed to have reached out to PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti. As a result, the list for the second phase of DDC polls included eight candidates from both PDP and NC, with five seats allocated to People’s Conference, three to Congress, two to Awami National Congress, and one to the Peoples Movement, the party founded by IAS topper Shah Faesal who has now quit politics.

The parties, however, are also fighting each other in multiple places in Kashmir. Sources in the PAGD also accused the PDP of not keeping its end of the deal while the NC is being accused of trying to take all seats for itself at the cost of other parties. 

While the NC and the PDP are trying to build consensus, the Congress seems belligerent. Sources in the party said that the Congress is very much part of the alliance but will be having “friendly contests” with the PAGD.

However, PAGD partners expressed doubts over the Congress’s commitment as a number of the latter’s leaders have been speaking out.

Congress leader Channi Singh, for instance, shared a Facebook post Sunday saying the party “will contest all seats in Tral”.

While NC leader Hasnain Masoodi won the 2019 parliamentary election in Anantnag constituency, of which Tral is a part, the 2014 assembly election was won by PDP in Tral.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Monga said, “We are with PAGD for the DDC polls and we won’t fight them as enemies. We have so far received only one report of a Congress leader fighting against a PAGD candidate. This is in the outskirts of Srinagar. We are verifying reports of other Congressmen who have filed nominations too.”