The democracy in India is not new now but the system of democracy has undergone a lot of changes. Above all the political structure has gone through a lot of changes over the last 6 decades. The usual thing witnessed in India earlier was one- party government. But the time changed during the era of the 90's when the coalition government became a new norm in the Indian political system. People had many aspirations and so did the political parties in India. This demanding relationship has brought changes in the vote- giver and vote- seekers mindset. Hence the result was the onset of new parties, new candidates and new governments, particularly coalition governments .The coalition governments are now commonly witnessed also at state level in India. It is even said that the coalition governments in Indian states became a trend before than at the national level. Many combinations have been formed for coalition governments in the country, some truly representing a mere necessity to be in power. Such a combination but had a shorter life and died a death for political survival.
The state of J&K is also now akin to coalition governments. Interestingly, the state has seen a lot of combinations till today. The different regions of the J&K state brings with it different aspirations of the people in J&K .However, the year 2015 has brought in a coalition of PDP-BJP which has been defined itself by the present Chief Minister Mufti Mohd. Sayeed, leading the coalition government, as ‘North-Pole meeting South-Pole’. The PDP-BJP coalition government formed in the state of J&K was one of the biggest political developments of the J&K state ever. Also the state of J&K has gone through many political set ups and even witnessed turbulence because of political reasons. This time the PDP-BJP government formation has created a lot of buzz in India and even on foreign lands. The two parties are ideologically opposite to each other and even demanded votes against each other through out campaign for the assembly elections. PDP-BJP spent almost two months in attempts to bridge all differences. Such were the differences in their ideology that they have to govern the state on the basis of a common minimum programme (CMP) forgetting their core ideology.
After the onset of a new chapter in J&K’s political history the hopes were high in all the regions of J&K. It was projected to be a combination which will bridge all the regional gaps in the state. But now the working of the PDP-BJP government has started raising eyebrows over many issues. As the time is passing, new issues have been witnessed which crossroad with the CMP. The issue of AFSPA though meant to me not talked about much, as per CMP, was again raised after some militant attacks. Subsequent to it the people in the state have started to debate that coalition now appears to be more of a political necessity than social necessity. Similarly, the issue of return & resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits caused a debate between the coalition partners. Though the PDP-BJP support resettlement but on different patterns both suggesting as per their political needs. Every passing day comes with some problems for the ideology of PDP-BJP as well as for the CMP of the coalition. Another issue, which gained momentum against the government in J&K was the release of Hurriyat leader, Masrat Alam. There was hue and cry over his release in Jammu in BJP cadre whereas no such thing was witnessed in Kashmir. Moreover, the relief and rehabilitation of the September 2014 flood affected people and the rebuilding of damaged infrastructure also affected the coalition working for a while. On one side, PDP supports the Rs 44,000 crore relief and on the other, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh from BJP, stated in an interview that a Rs 3500 crore package from the Centre was enough. Of all the problems added, the latest one is the AIIMS issue which went on in the form of an agitation in Jammu against the BJP-PDP coalition government. This agitation seems to have affected purely the vote bank of BJP and appeared to have widened the Jammu-Kashmir regional gap again in masses.
Many things were said in the beginning itself which shall come in, as hindrance for running the coalition government. Though it was like a prediction but yes, some things have appeared since the last few months. PDP-BJP appears to be walking on a tightrope creating mistrust and differences among the coalition partners on issues of the state. They cannot run the coalition, just to run the government and stay in power. With power has come responsibility which needs to be balanced in an effective & better way to rule the three regions. The leaders in power cannot stay on “power hungry mode” as it will take them to an end soon.
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