With The Gupkar Alliance Participating In The DDC Polls, Branding Them As "The Gupkar Gang" Is Obnoxious
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-11-21 08:38:22
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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It will be good for the country if the BJP refrains from attacking the Gupkar Alliance parties as the Gupkar Gang? As is his wont, Amit Shah has started vilifying the said parties as the Gupkar Gang, on the lines of the tukde tukde gang. But this is obnoxious as these parties have decided to join the mainstream by taking part in the ensuing DDC elections in J&K. Unless the BJP wants to provoke them into withdrawing from the elections and make a mockery of the electoral process, there is no reason it should vilify these parties. Shah fails to see the duplicity involved as the BJP has targeted the Congress for allying with them (which the Congress has denied), while at the same time it is allying with the National Conference in Ladakh. The specious excuse that the Ladakh unit of the NC has accepted the abrogation of Article 370 does not hold good as the unit cannot go against the wishes of the parent party and NC's stand on the matter is crystal clear.
Shah should recognize two things: first, that there are no permanent friends or foes in politics. Hence, while the BJP had allied with Mehbooba Mufti and the PDP to run the government in the state in the recent past, the very same party has now become enemy number one for it. Second, every political party has the right to differ with government policy and vow to fight for what it thinks is right. If the Gupkar Alliance parties think, howsoever wrongly, that the abrogation of Article 370 was "illegal" they have every right to take up all legal remedies available under Indian laws to try and get it reversed. It goes without saying that they also have the democratic right to start a movement against the said government policy.
The government, on the other hand, has the right to stick to its decision to bifurcate the state and doing away with the special status granted to it. But the BJP does not have the right to vilify those parties who are protesting democratically against the decision of the government. Further, the BJP must recognize that their stance is for public consumption. They know that any act done by Parliament cannot be easily reversed, unless the Supreme Court finds it against the Constitution, which is very unlikely. Hence, they will keep saying that they are against the abrogation of Article 370 but they know that their very existence depends on participating in the electoral process. Hence, they have decided to field candidates in the DDC elections.
This is a good sign and the BJP must not queer the pitch by issuing statements that brand them as anti-nationals. The need of the hour is to involve the PDP, the NC and other smaller regional parties in the state in the DDC as in the absence of a regular elected assembly the DDC is going to look after the development of the state. The Lieutenant Governor cannot be expected to run things indefinitely. After the successful DDC elections the Centre must seriously think of restoring statehood for J&K and holding assembly elections at the earliest. The people of the state must not suffer just because politicians like to play games.
