RIFT IN THE VALLEY

The National Conference could leave the Gupkar alliance to safeguard its own interests

- TARIQ BHAT

AFTER THE SUPREME COURT upheld the abrogation of Article 370 on December 11 and ordered elections to be held in Jammu and Kashmir before September 30, 2024, the Gupkar alliance—made up of the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Awami National Conference—seems to be on shaky ground.

While NC vice president Omar Abdullah said he was going “off-grid”, his father and party president Farooq Abdullah, in a fit of frustration, said Jammu and Kashmir should “go to hell”. The sense of dejection was clear.

In the 2020 district development council elections—the first after the abrogation—the Gupkar alliance had won 110 of 278 seats across 20 districts. Within the alliance, the NC got 67 seats, the most, including 25 in Jammu, followed by the PDP (27), the People’s Conference (eight), the CPI(M) (five) and the J&K Peoples Movement (three). Two of those parties are no longer in the alliance. The BJP was the single-largest party (75), dominating in Jammu and winning three in Kashmir.

Since those elections, the BJP has made significant changes in Jammu and Kashmir through delimitation and constitutional amendments, bolstering the political influence of Hindu-majority Jammu. Before the delimitation, Jammu held 37 seats in the 87-member assembly; Kashmir had 46 and Ladakh, four. Now, Jammu holds 43 in the 90-member assembly; Kashmir has 47 and Ladakh is a separate Union territory.